BT 480 
.W5 

1834 

Copy 1 




i 

I 



OBSERVATIONS 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



THE RESURRECTION 



JESUS CHRIST. 



BY 

GILBERT WEST, ESQ. 

CLERK EXTRAORDINARY OF HIS MAJESTY'S MOST 
HONOURABLE PRIYY COUNCIL. 



WITH A BRIEF MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. 



BOSTON: 
PUBLISHED BY JAMES 

1834, 



LORINC 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 1 

Section I. Appearance of Christ and the Angels to Mary Magdalene, - - 13 

Section 2. Report of the Women that Christ was risen, 15 

Section 3. Testimony of Matthew and Mark compared, 17 

Section 4. Facts in which Matthew and Mark coincide, 31 

Section 5. Circumstances examined in which Matthew and Mark are 

thought to disagree, 34 

Section 6. Women at the Sepulchre on the Morning of the Resurrection, • 39 

Section 7. Interview of the Disciples with Christ at Emmaus, 48 

Section 8. Christ seen of the Women after his Resurrection, ..... 52 

Section 9. Attending Occurrences of the Resurrection, 58 

Section 10. State of Mind of the Apostles and Disciples on the Death of Christ, 65 
Section 11. Substance of the Evidence of Christ's Resurrection, satisfying his 

Disciples of the Fact, ------ 6S 

Section 12. Different Appearances of Angels, and Appearances of Christ to 

the Women, and to his Disciples.. - - - - 86 

Section 13. Reality of the Angelic Appearances, - 91 

Section 14. Two Appearances of Christ to the Women after his Resurrection, 102 

Section 15. Appearances of Christ, related by the Evangelists, ----- 115 
Section 16. Appearance of the Lord Jesus to the eleven Disciples, and also 

to Thomas, and to others, 120 

Section 17. " The Sufferings, Death and Resurrection of Jesus, fulfilled what 

he had previously foretold of these Events, 128 
Section 18. The Sufferines and Death of Jesus, distinctly foretold in the Old 

Testament, - 138 

Section 19. Characteristics of the Prophecies relating to the Redeemer, and 

his Resurrection from the Dead, J59 

Section 20. Appearances of Christ in Galilee, after his Resurrection, - - - 167 
Section 21. Reasons for the repeated Appearances of Christ after his" Rising 

from the Dead, - 173 

Section 22. Arguments for giving full Credence to the Certainty of Christ's 

Resurrection, 180 

Section 23. Genuineness of the Gospels and Epistles, 188 

Section 24. Reasons for believing the Testimony of the Apostles and Evan- 
gelists, - .... v 197 

Section 25. Internal Marks of Truth in the Sacred Writings, ... . .. 200 

Section 26. Negative Evidence of the Veracity and Inspiration of the Apos- 
tles and Evangelists, ^ 213 

Section 27. Positive Evidence of the Veracity and Inspiration of the Sacred 

Writers, - - - - 217 

Section 28. Testimony from the Fulfilment ef Christ's Predictions, - - - 223 

Section 29. Argument from the Preservation of the Jews as a distinct People, 230 
Section 30. Argument from the Existence and Continuance of the Christian 

Religion, ------- - 233- 

fjj . ©ft* ; 
Bertram Smf 



MEMOIR 

OF 

GILBERT WEST. 



Gilbert West, born in 1705, was the sen e£ the Rev. Dr. 
West, Prebendary of Winchester, and of a sister of Sir Richard 
Temple, afterward Lord Cobham. His father, designing him for 
the church, sent him first to Eton, and then to Oxford ; but he 
was seduced to a more airy mode of life by a commission in a 
•troop of horse, procured him by his uncle. He continued some 
time in the army, though it is probable he neither sunk into the 
mere soldier, nor so far lost the love, as to neglect the pursuit of 
learning; and afterwards finding himself more inclined to civil 
employment, he laid down his commission, and engaged in busi- 
ness under Lord Townshend, then Secretary of State, with whom 
he accompanied King George L to Hanover. This adherence to 
Lord Townshend ended in nothing but a nomination, May, 1729, 
to be clerk extraordinary of the Privy Council, which produced 
no immediate profit ; for it only placed him in a state of expecta- 
tion and right of succession, and it was very long before a vacancy 
admitted him to emolument. Soon afterward he married, and 
settled himself in a very pleasant house at Wickham in Kent, 
where he devoted himself to learning and piety. 

He first made himself known as a poet in .1742, by a piece enti- 
tled the ' Institution of the Order of the Garter,' distinguished by 
its pure and elevated morality, and containing passages of elegant 
fancy and splendid diction. His other compositions were ' Trans- 
lations of the Odes of Pindar,' with ' A Dissertation on the Olym- 
pic Games,' executed in a very creditable manner, though with 
some diffuseness ; ' Translations from the Argonautics of Apol- 
lonius Rhodius, and the Tragopodagra of Lucian ;' 'The Abuse 
of Travelling ;' and 'Education;' 'Poems in imitation of the 
stanza and manner of Spenser,' and happily executed ; ' Iphigenia 
in Tauris, from Euripides ;' and 'Original Poems on various oc- 
casions.' Several of these pieces were inserted in the collection 
of Dodsley ; and they were printed collectively in three vols. 
12mo. 1766. These productions entitle Gilbert West to a respec- 
table rank among the English minor poets. 



MEMOIR OF GILBERT WEST. 



But our author, like Addison, not only cultivated an acquaint- 
ance with the Muses, but also applied himself to study and re- 
commend the truths of Christianity. In early life he is said to 
have entertained doubts concerning revealed religion, which were 
instilled into him by Lord Cobham, yet he gave sufficient proof 
that they were not of long duration. His 1 Observations on the 
Resurrection of Christ' appeared in 1747, which for their intrinsic 
merit, and as the tribute of a layman to the cause of Christianity, 
were rewarded by the University of Oxford with the degree of 
Doctor of Laws, conferred on the author. Tt was his intention 
as appears from a letter to Dr. Doddridge, with whom he main- 
tained an intimate correspondence, to have followed up the sub- 
ject by a work on the evidence of the truth of the ±New Testament, 
but he did not live to complete his design. 

His circumstances were rendered more affluent in 1752, by suc- 
ceeding to one of the lucrative clerkships of the Privy Council, to 
which, when Mr. Pitt became paymaster general, was added the 
place of treasurer of Chelsea Hospital. But his enjoyment of life 
was not increased by the augmentation of wealth. In 1755 he 
underwent the severe affliction of losing an only son; and in the 
following year a paralytic stroke brought him to the grave, March 
1756, at the age of fifty. 

Mr. West was often visited at Wickham by Lyttleton and Pitt, 
who, when they were weary of faction and debates, were accus- 
tomed to find there books and quiet, a decent table, and literary 
converse. There is at Wickham a walk made by Pitt 5 and, what 
is of far more importance, Lyttleton there received that conviction, 
which produced his Dissertation on St. Paul. When West's 
book was published, it was bought.by some, who did not know 
his change of opinion, in expectation of new objections against 
Christianity ; and, as infidels do not want malignity, they reveng- 
ed the disappointment by calli ng him Methodist. Mr. VVest was 
a gentleman in his manners, agreeable in conversation, and lively 
though serious. He was regular in the performance of family 
devotion, and in attendance on public worship — duties which 
experience proves to be intimately connected with domestic peace 
and comfort, and the good order and welfare of society at large. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The following Observations took their rise from a 
pamphlet, entitled, The Resurrection of Jesus consid- 
ered, in answer to the Trial of the Witnesses.; by a 
Moral Philosopher. The author of which, in order to 
overturn the testimony of the evangelists, hath at- 
tempted to show, that they contradict each other in the 
accounts they have given of this fact. To this pam- 
phlet there came out two very learned and ingenious 
answers, which I read with great satisfaction, as I found 
in them solid confutations of many objections against 
Christianity started in the first. But I must confess 
(though with the utmost respect to the knowledge and 
abilities of the authors of the two last mentioned pam- 
phlets,) that I was not so fully satisfied with their 
manner of clearing the sacred writers from the contra- 
dictions charged upon them. This set me upon reading 
and examining with attention the Scriptures them- 
selves, and with no other bias than what arose from the 
astonishment I was under at finding writers, who for 
above these sixteen hundred years have been reputed 
holy and inspired, charged with such a contrariety in 
their accounts as ill agreed with either of those epithets. 
Of the truth of this charge, therefore, I acknowledge I 
had great difficulty to persuade myself ; and indeed it 
was not long before I discovered, as I imagined, the 
vanity and weakness of such an imputation, which, 
however, I cannot style altogether groundless, since it 
has an appearance of being founded in the words of the 
Gospel, though in reality that foundation lies no deeper 
than the outside and surface of the words : neither will 
I call it malicious, since having, upon farther inquiry, 
found it to be of a very ancient date, I know not the 



INTRODUCTION. 



first authors of it. and consequently can form no judg- 
ment of their intentions. What I have to offer in 
defence of the evangelists is built in like manner upon 
the sacred text, whose true meaning (which upon this 
occasion I searched for in vain in the notes of many 
eminent commentators) I have endeavoured to investi- 
gate and prove, by comparing their several accounts 
with each other, and noting the agreement and disa- 
greement of the circumstances. A method that hath 
led me unavoidably into critical observations ; for the 
length and dryness of which I should however think 
myself obliged to make some excuse, did I write only 
for amusement, or expect to be read by those, who seek 
in books for nothing more solid than entertainment. 

But although the clearing the sacred writers from 
the imputation of contradicting each other was the 
principal, and indeed the sole object I had at first in 
view ; yet having, in the pursuit of this object, per- 
ceived the light breaking in upon me still more and 
more the farther I advanced, and discovering to me 
almost at every step some new circumstances, which 
tended to illustrate and confirm the testimonv given by 
these inspired historians to the resurrection of Jesus 
Christ, I was induced, by these discoveries, to go very 
far beyond my first design, into a consideration of the 
evidences of this great and important article, not those 
only recorded in the sacred writings, but others arising 
from subsequent events and facts : of which we have, 
by several ways, many clear and unquestionable proofs. 
The method in which I have proceeded in this consid- 
eration is as follows : I have begun with laying down 
the order, in which the several incidents related by the 
evangelists appear to have happened ; and, in the next 
place, I have made some observations upon the method 
and manner in which the proofs of this astonishing 
event were laid before the apostles, who were appointed 
to bear witness of it to the world. And to these I have, 
in the third place, added an exact and rigorous exam- 
ination of the proofs themselves ; from all which I 
have endeavoured to show, that the resurrection of 
Christ was most fairly and fully proved to the apostles 
and disciples, those first converts and preachers of 
Christianity. 



INTRODUCTION. 



But as the resurrection's having been fully proved 
to the apostles, though absolutely necessary, yet is not 
of itself sufficient to authorize at this time and establish 
the faith of a Christian, 1 imagined, that what 1 had 
already written would be imperfect, at least, if not al- 
together useless, unless I added some arguments and 
reasons I had to offer, to induce us, who live at the 
distance of seventeen hundred years from the date of 
that miraculous event, to believe that Christ is risen 
from the dead. These reasons, therefore, I have thought 
proper to subjoin under two heads, viz : The Testimony 
of the chosen Witnesses of the Resurrection recorded 
in the Scriptures, and the Existence of the Christian 
Religion. 

From this account of the rise, progress, and design 
of the following observations, the reader will perceive, 
that they were first begun with the single view of ob- 
taining satisfaction for myself upon some difficulties in 
the evangelical history of the resurrection ; and that 
they are now published with the hopes of their being 
as useful to others as they have been to me. This is 
the chief, if not the sole end, that a layman can reason- 
ably propose to himself in publishing any thing upon a 
subject of this nature ; for I am not ignorant how little 
reputation is to be gained by writing on the side of 
Christianity, which by many people is regarded as a 
superstitious fable, not worth the thoughts of a wise 
man ; and considered by more as a mere political 
scheme, calculated to serve the power and interest of 
the clergy only. How absolutely groundless both these 
opinions are, will easily appear to any one, who will 
take the pains to examine fairly and impartially the 
proofs and doctrines of the Christian religion ; proofs 
established upon facts, the surest foundations of evi- 
dence, and doctrines derived by inspiration from the 
great Author of reason, and Father of all mankind. 
Whoever hath either neglected, or doth refuse to make 
this examination, can have no right to pass his judg- 
ment upon Christianity, and should, methinks, for the 
same reason, be somewhat cautions of censuring those 
who acknowledge it to be of divine institution; espe- 
cially as he will find in the list of Christians the great 
and venerable names of Bacon. Milton, Boyle, Locke, 



INTRODUCTION. 



and Newton ; names to whose authority every thing 
should submit but truth, to whom they themselves 
thought it not beneath their superior talents to submit, 
though she required them to believe in Christ. 

But it may possibly be demanded, why, being a lay- 
man, I presume to intermeddle in a province commonly 
thought to belong peculiarly to the clergy ? To which 
I answer, that, besides the motives above suggested, 
this very prejudice was a powerful inducement to me 
to publish the following observations, and to prefix my 
name to them. The clergy, I am sensible, are both 
ready and able to maintain the cause of Christianity, 
as their many excellent writings in defence of it suffi- 
ciently demonstrate ; but as the generality of mankind 
is more governed by prejudice than reason, the writings 
of the clergy are not so universally read, or so candidly 
received, as they deserve, because they are supposed 
to proceed, not from conscience and conviction, but 
from interested views, and the common cause of their 
profession ; a supposition evidently as partial and in- 
jurious as that would be, which should impute the gal- 
lant behaviour of our officers to the mean considerations 
of their pay and the hopes of preferment, exclusive of 
all the nobler motives of gentlemen, viz : the sense of 
honour, and the love of their country. But the clergy, 
I dare say, who, if there be any thing besides prejudice, 
in the above mentioned imputation upon them, have 
alone the right to make this demand, will readily ex- 
cuse my appearing in the cause of Christianity. And 
the laity, I hope, such of them at least as are Christians, 
not in name and profession only, will join with me in 
declaring, against the vain prejudices of unbelievers, 
that the Christian religion is of the utmost importance 
to all orders and degrees of men ; and that the greatest 
service, that the most zealous patriot can do his country, 
is to promote the faith,, and thereby encourage the 
practice of the truly divine virtues recommended by 
Christ and his apostles. 

For my own part, if any sincere inquirer after truth, 
any one honest man, shall receive the least benefit from 
the following observations, I shall think I have neither 
written nor lived in vain. 



OBSERVATIONS 

ON THE 

HISTORY OF THE RESURRECTION. 



SECTION 1. 

Appearance of Christ and the Angels to Mary 
Magdalene. 

JOHN, CHAPTER XX., VERSE 1 TO 18. 

The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when 
it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken 
away from the sepulchre. Then she runneth, and cometh to Si- 
mon Peter, and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and saith 
unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, 
and we know not where they have laid him. Peter, therefore, 
went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre. 
So they ran both together : and the other disciple did outrun Pe- 
ter, and came first to the sepulchre. And he, stooping down, and 
looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in. Then 
cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, 
and seeth the linen clothes lie, and the napkin, that was about 
his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together 
in a place by itself. Then went in also that other disciple, which 
came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed. For as yet 
they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the 
dead. Then the disciples went away again unto their own home. 
But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and, as she 
wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre, and seeth 
two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other 
at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. And they say unto 
her, Woman, why weepest thou! She saith unto them, Because 
they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have 
laid him. And when she had thus said she turned herself back, 
and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus 



14 



History and evidences 



saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou ? whom seekest thou t 
She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto hirri, Sir, if thou 
have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and 1 
will take him away. Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned 
herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni ; which is to say, Master. 
Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not ; for I am not yet ascended to 
my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend 
unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your 
God. Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had 
seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unio her. 

From this passage of the Gospel of St. John it is 
evident, first, That Mary Magdalene had not seen 
any vision of angels before she ran to Peter ; and, 
consequently, that she was not of the number of 
those women who went into the sepulchre, and were 
there told by an angel that Jesus was risen. For 
had she, before she went to Peter, seen any angels, 
she would certainly have added so extraordinary a 
circumstance to her account; and had she been in- 
formed by an angel that Jesus was risen, she could 
not have persisted in lamenting at not being able to 
find the body ; nor have inquired of him, whom she 
took to be the gardener, where he had put it, that 
she might take It away. It is also farther observable, 
that when, after her return to the sepulchre with 
Peter and John, and their departure from thence, 
she saw a vision of angels, 4 she was standing with- 
out, at the sepulchre, weeping ; that, stooping down, 
and looking (net going) into the sepulchre, she saw 
two angels in white, sitting, the one at the head, the 
other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain,' 
who said no more than, 1 Woman, why weepest 
thou?' to whom she answered, 4 Because they have 
taken away my Lord, and I know not where they 
have laid him.' From all which circumstances it 
appears, secondly, That neither after her return to 
the sepulchre with Peter and John was she with 
those women who went into the sepulchre, &c. ; 
that she had not heard any thing of Christ's being 
risen from the dead ; and that therefore those wo- 
men, who were told by an angel that he was risen, 
were not at the sepulchre when she returned thither 
with Peter and John. And, indeed, from the whole 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



IS 



tenor of the above cited passage of St. John's Gos- 
pel, throughout which no mention is made of any- 
other woman besides Mary Magdalene, it is more 
than probable she was alone when she saw the an- 
gels, and when Christ appeared to her immediately 
after. That she was alone when Christ appeared to 
her, is plainly implied in what St. Mark, 16 : 9, says, 
who tells us expressly, that Christ appeared first to 
Mary Magdalene, which, had she been accompanied 
by the other women, could not have been spoken of 
her with any propriety of speech. In the third place, 
it is plain, from the above relation, that the angels 
were not always visible, but appeared and disap- 
peared as they thought proper ; for John and Peter 
going into the sepulchre saw no angels ; but Mary, 
after their departure, looking in saw two, one sitting 
at the head, and the other at the feet, where the 
body of Jesus had lain. 



SECTION II. 
Report of the TV omen that Christ was risen* 

LUKE, CHAPTER XXIV., VERSE 13 TO 24. 

And behold two of them [the disciples] went that same day to 
a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about three- 
score furlongs. And they talked together of all these things 
which had happened. And it came to pass, that while they com- 
muned together, and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went 
with them. But their eyes were holden, that they should not 
know him. And he said unto them, What manner of communi- 
cations are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are 
sad 1 And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answer- 
ing, said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and 
hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these 
days? And he said unto them, What things 1 And they said 
unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet 
mighty in deed and word before God and all the people : And 



16 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemn- 
ed to death, and have crucified him. Hut we trusted that it had 
been he which should have redeemed Israel: and, besides all 
this, to-day is the third day since these things were done. Yea, 
and certain women also of our company made us astoKished, 
which were early at the sepulchre : And when they found not 
his body they came, saying, That they had also seen a vision of 
angels, which said that he was alive. And certain of them which 
were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the 
women had said ; but him they saw not. 

The latter part of this passage, which contains an 
abridgment of a report made by some women to the 
apostles before these two disciples had left Jerusa- 
lem, suggests the following observations : First, 
The angels seen by these women at the sepulchre 
told them that Jesus was alive, whence it follows, 
that this report was not made by Mary Magdalene ; 
for the angels, which she saw, said no such thing to 
her. Secondly, As there is no notice taken of any 
appearance of our Saviour to these women, it is also 
evident, that this report could not have been made 
by the other Mary and Salome, to whom, as they 
were going to tell the disciples the message of the 
angel, which they had seen at the sepulchre, Jesus 
appeared, as I shall presently show from St. Matthew. 
Thirdly, There were therefore several reports made 
at different times to the apostles, and by different 
women. At different times ; for the two disciples, 
who, before they left Jerusalem, had heard the re- 
port now under consideration, had not heard those 
of Mary Magdalene, of the other Mary and Salome. 
By different women ; for it having been just now 
proved, that this report could not belong to either of 
the last-mentioned women, it must have been made 
by some other; and no other being named by any 
of the evangelists but Joanna, it came in all likeli- 
hood from her, and those that attended her. Fourth- 
ly, Some of the disciples, upon hearing this report, 
* went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the 
women had said that is, in the most obvious sense 
of these words, they saw the body was gone and 
they saw some angels. But I shall not insist upon 
this interpretation, but only observe, that if Peter be 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



17 



supposed to have been one of those disciples, who, 
upon this information of the women, went to the 
sepulchre, this must have been the second time of 
his going thither. That Peter went a second time 
to the sepulchre I shall show more at large, when I 
come to consider the former part of this chapter of 
St. Luke. 

These several conclusions being admitted, I think 
it will be no difficult matter to defend the evangelists 
against the imputation of contradicting each other, 
in the accounts they have given of what happened 
on the day of the resurrection. For unless authors, 
who relate different and independent parts of the 
same history, may, for that reason, be said to con- 
tradict each other, the evangelists, J will be bold to 
say, stand as clear of that charge, at least in that 
part of their writings which we are now examining, 
as any of the most accurate historians either ancient 
or modern ; as I shall now endeavour to prove, by 
considering and comparing the several relations of 
this day's events in the Gospels of St. Matthew, St. 
Mark, St, Luke, and St. John. That written by St. 
John I have already produced, so that there will be 
no occasion for inserting it again in this place ; those 
of St. Matthew and St. Mark, I shall produce and 
examine together, for reasons which will be evident 
hereafter. 



SECTION III. 
Testimony of Matthew and Mark compared, 

MATTHEW, CHAPTER XXVIII., VERSE 1 TO 17. 

In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first 
day of the week, came Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, to 
see the sepulchre. And, behold, there was a great earthquake : 
for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and 
rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His coun- 



16 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



teuance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow : And 
for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. 
And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye : 
for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not 
here ; for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the 
Lord lay : And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen 
from the dead ; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee ; 
there shall ye see him : lo, I have told you. And they departed 
quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy, and did run 
to bring his disciples word. And as they went to tell his disci- 
ples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came 
and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. Then said Jesus 
unto them, Be not afraid : go tell my brethren that they go into 
Galilee, and there shall they see me. Now, when they were 
going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and showed 
unto the chief priests all the things that were done. And when 
they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they 
gave large money unto the soldiers, saying, Say ye, his disciples 
came by night, and stole him away while we slept. And if this 
come to the governor's ears, we will persuade him, and secure 
you. So they took the money, and did as they were taught : and 
this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day. 
Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a moun- 
tain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw 
him they worshipped him : but some doubted. 

MARK, CHAPTER XVI., VERSE 1 TO 14. 

And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary 
the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that 
they might come and anoint him. And very early in the morn- 
ing, the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at 
the rising of the sun. And they said among themselves, Who 
shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? And 
when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away : for 
it was very great. And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a 
young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long while gar- 
ment ; and they were affrighted. And he saith unto them, Be 
not affrighted : ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified : 
he is risen : he is not here : behold the place where they laid him. 
But ?o your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before 
\ ou into Galilee : there shall ye see him, as he said unto you. 
And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre ; for they 
trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any 
man; for they were afraid. Now, when Jesus was risen early, 
the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, 
out of whom he had cast seven devils. And she went and told 
them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept. And 
they, when they had heard that lie was alive, and had been seen 
of her, believed not. After that he appeared in another form unto 
two of them, as they walked, and went into the country. And 
they went and told it unto the residue : neither believed they 
them. Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at 
meat, and upbraided them w ith their unbelief and hardness of 
heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after 
he was risen, 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



19 



I shall range the observations I intend to make 
opon the several particulars contained in these two 
passages under three heads. First, Of such circum- 
stances as are related by one of these evangelists, 
but omitted by the other. The second, Of such as 
they both agree in. And the third, Of such as seem 
to clash and disagree with each other. First, The 
several particulars of the earthquake, the descent ot 
the angel from heaven, his rolling away the stone 
from the door of the sepulchre, and sitting upon it, 
and the terror of the soldiers who guarded the sep- 
ulchre, are related only by St, Matthew: as are 
likewise the appearances of our Saviour to the wo. 
men, and to the eleven disciples in Galilee, and the 
flight of the guards into the city, and all that passed 
between them and the chief priests upon that occa? 
sion. On the other hand, St. Mark alone makes 
mention of the women's having bought spices, that 
they may come and anoint the body of our Saviour ; 
of Salome's being one of those women ; of their 
entering into the sepulchre, and seeing there a 
young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a 
long white garment ; of the appearance of Christ to 
Mary Magdalene ; to the two disciples who were 
going into the country ; and, lastly, to the eleven as 
they sat at meat. As not one of all these circum- 
stances can be proved to contradict or even disagree 
with any particular, which either of these evangelists 
has thought fit to mention, no argument against the 
reality or credibility of them can be drawn from their 
not having been taken notice of by both ; unless it 
can be made to appear, that a fact related by one 
historian, or one evidence, must therefore be false, 
because it is passed over in silence by another. St. 
Matthew wrote his Gospel first, within a few years 
after the ascension of our Lord *, this Gospel St. 
Mark, who wrote his some few years after, is said to 
have abridged; though this, I think, is said with 
very little propriety. For how can that book be 
styled an abridgment, which contains many particu- 
lars not mentioned in the original author? That St< 



20 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



Mark relates many circumstances not taken notice 
of by St. Matthew will easily appear to any one, 
who shall take the pains to compare them together ; 
and of this, to go no farther, we have a plain instance 
in the two passages before us. 

St. Matthew wrote his Gospel at the request of 
the Jewish converts, who, having lived in that coun- 
try where the scene of this great history was laid, 
were doubtless acquainted with many particulars, 
which, for that reason, it was not necessary to men- 
tion. This will account for the conciseness, and 
seeming defectiveness of his narrations in many 
places, as well as for his omitting some circumstan- 
ces, which the other evangelists thought proper to 
relate. St. Mark composed his for Christians of other 
nations, who, not having the same opportunities of 
being informed, as their brethren of Judea, stood in 
need of some notes and comments to enable them 
the better to understand the extract, which St. Mark 
chose to give them out of the Gospel written by St. 
Matthew. It was therefore necessary for St. Mark 
to insert many particulars, which the purpose of St. 
Matthew in writing his Gospel did not lead him to 
take notice of. Allowing these evangelists to have 
had these two distinct views, let us see how they 
have pursued them, in the passages now under con- 
sideration. 

' That the disciples of Jesus came by night, and 
stole away the body while the guards slept, was 
commonly reported among the Jews,' even so long 
after the ascension of our Lord as when St. Matthew 
wrote his Gospel, as himself (28 : 15) tells us. To 
furnish the Jewish converts with an answer to this 
absurd story, so industriously propagated among 
their unbelieving brethren, and supported by the 
authority of the chief priests and elders, this evan- 
gelist relates at large the history of the guarding 
the sepulchre, &c, the earthquake, the descent of 
the angel, his rolling away the stone, and the fright 
of the soldiers at his appearance, who 'shook and 
became as dead men.' And, indeed, by comparing 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



21 



this relation with the report given out by the soldiers, 
it will easily appear on which side the truth lay. 
For as there is nothing in the miraculous resurrec- 
tion of our Lord, so repugnant to reason and proba- 
bility, as that the disciples should be able to roll 
away the stone which closed up the mouth of the 
sepulchre, and carry off the body of Jesus, unper- 
ceived by the soldiers, who were set there on purpose 
to guard against such an attempt ; so it is also evi- 
dent, that the particulars of the soldiers' report were 
founded upon the circumstances of this history. In 
this report three things are asserted, viz : That the 
disciples stole the body ; that they stole it in the 
night ; and that they stole it while the guards were 
asleep. That Jesus came out of the sepulchre be- 
fore the rising of the sun, St. Matthew informs us, 
who says, that the earthquake, &c, happened at the 
time when Mary Magdalene and the other Mary set 
out in order to take a view of the sepulchre, which 
was just as the day began to break. This fact was 
undoubtedly too notorious for the chief priests to 
venture at falsifying it, and was besides favourable 
to the two other articles : this therefore they admit- 
ted ; and taking the hint from what the soldiers told 
them, of their having been cast into a swoon or 
trance (becoming like dead men) at the appearance 
of the angel, and consequently not having seen our 
Saviour come out of the sepulchre, they forged the 
remaining parts of the story, that his disciples came 
and stole him away while they slept. They took 
the hint, 1 say, of framing these two last mentioned 
articles from that circumstance related by St. Mat- 
thew, of the 'keepers shaking and becoming like 
dead men' upon the sight of the angel ; for through- 
out this whole history there was no other besides 
this, upon which they could prevaricate and dispute. 
The stone was rolled away from the sepulchre, and 
the body was gone ; this the chief priests were to 
account for, without allowing that Jesus was risen 
from the dead. The disciples, they said, stole it 
away. What ! while the guards were there ? Yes, 



22 HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 

the guards were asleep. With this answer they 
knew fall well many would be satisfied, without in- 
quiring any farther into the matter : but they could 
not expect that every body would be so contented ; 
especially as they had reason to apprehend, that 
although the soldiers, who had taken their money, 
might be faithful to them, keep their secret, and 
attest the story they had framed for them, yet the 
truth might come out, by means of those whom they 
had not bribed ; for St. Matthew says, (28 : 11) that 
8 some of the watch went into the city, and showed 
unto the chief priests all the things that were done.' 
Some therefore remained behind, who probably had 
no share of the money which the chief priests gave 
to the soldiers ; or, if they had, in all likelihood it 
came too late ; they had already divulged the truth, 
as well from an eagerness, which all men naturally 
have, to tell a wonderful story, as from a desire of 
justifying themselves for having quitted their post. 
The chief priests therefore were to guard against 
this event also ; in order to which nothing could be 
more effectual than to counterwork the evidence of 
one part of the soldiers, by putting into the mouths 
of others of them a story, which, without directly 
contradicting the facts, might yet tend to overthrow 
the only conclusion which the disciples of Jesus 
would endeavour to draw from them, and which they 
were so much concerned to discredit, viz: 'That 
Jesus was risen from the dead.' For if the disciples 
and partizans of Jesus, informed by one part of the 
soldiers of the several circumstances related in St. 
Matthew, should urge these miraculous events as so 
many proofs of the resurrection of their Master, the 
unbelieving Jews were, by the testimony of those 
suborned witnesses, instructed to answer, that the 
earthquake and the angel were illusions or dreams ; 
that the soldiers had honestly confessed they were 
asleep, though some of them, to screen themselves 
from the shame or punishment such a breach of dis- 
cipline deserved, pretended they were frightened 
into a swoon or trance by an extraordinary appear* 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



23 



ance, which they never saw, or saw only in a dream ; 
that, while they slept, the disciples came and stole 
the body ; for none of the soldiers, not even those 
who saw the most, pretend to have seen Jesus come 
out of the sepulchre ; they are all equally ignorant 
by what means the body was removed ; when they 
awaked it was missing ; and it was much more likely, 
that the disciples should have stolen it away, than 
that an impostor should rise from the dead. 

1 shall not go about to confute this story ; to un- 
prejudiced and thinking people it carries its own 
confutation with it. But I must observe, that it is 
founded entirely upon the circumstance of the sol- 
diers not having seen Jesus come out of the sepul- 
chre ; a circumstance, that even those, who told the 
real truth, could not contradict, though they ac- 
counted for it in a different manner, by saying, they 
were frightened into a swoon or trance at the sight 
of a terrible apparition, that came and rolled away 
the stone, and sat upon it. But this fact the chief 
priests thought it not prudent to allow, as favouring 
too much the opinion of Christ's being risen from 
the dead ; neither did they think proper to reject it 
entirely, because they intended to turn it to their 
own advantage ; and therefore, denying every thing 
that was miraculous, they construed this swoon or 
trance into a sleep, and with a large sum of money, 
and promises of impunity, hired the soldiers to con- 
fess a crime, and, by taking shame to themselves, to 
cover them from confusion. And so far, it must be 
acknowledged, they gained their point. For, until 
some farther proofs of the resurrection of Jesus 
should be produced, of which at that time they had 
heard nothing more, this story would undoubtedly 
have served to puzzle the cause, and hold people in 
suspense. Argument and reason indeed were wholly 
on the other side, but prejudice and authority were 
on theirs ; and they were not ignorant to which the 
bulk of mankind were most disposed to submit. 

But as no other than presumptive arguments in 
favour of the resurrection could be drawn from what 



24 HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



happened to the soldiers at the sepulchre, even 
though the chief priests had permitted them to tell 
the truth ; St. Matthew, in his narration, proceeds 
to second and confirm those arguments by positive 
evidence, producing witnesses who had seen and 
conversed with Jesus Christ after he was risen from 
the dead. Of these, as may be gathered from the 
other Gospels, the number was very considerable ; 
and very numerous were the instances of Christ's 
appearing after his resurrection. Yet from the latter 
has St. Matthew selected only two, upon each of 
which I beg leave to make a few remarks. The 
first appearance of Christ is to the women, which 
happened as they went to tell the disciples the mes- 
sage of the angel that had appeared to them in the 
sepulchre. I have already proved, in my observa- 
tions upon St. John, that Mary Magdalene was not 
one of those women ; and yet the words of St., Mat- 
thew, by the common rule of construction, seem to 
import the contrary. For, in the first place, the par- 
agraph, 4 and the angel answered and said to the wo- 
men,' is in our translation connected with the preced- 
ing by the copulative and. Secondly, As in the first 
part of this chapter, no mention is made of any other 
women than Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, 
and no hint given of any other angel than that des- 
cribed as descending from heaven, &c, the words 
in this paragraph 1 the angel and the women,' must 
be taken to relate to them. To which I answer ; 
First, That this paragraph is not to be so connected 
with the preceding, as if nothing had intervened ; 
since we shall find, upon a closer examination of it, 
and comparing it with its parallel in St. Mark, that 
between the keepers' becoming like dead men, and 
the angels' speaking to the women, Salome had 
joined the two Marys in their way to the sepulchre ; 
that before they arrived there, the keepers were 
fled, and the angel was removed from off the stone, 
and was seated within the sepulchre ; for which 
reason the particle instead of being rendered by 
the copulative and, should rather be expressed by 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



25 



the disjunctive but, or now, as denoting" an interrup- 
tion in the narration, and the beginning of a new 
paragraph. Secondly, I allow the angel here spoken 
of to be the same with that mentioned in the fore- 
going verses, and the other Mary to be one of those 
women to whom this angel in the sepulchre, and 
afterwards Christ himself appeared, and therefore 
admit the words 'the angel and the women' in this 
verse relate to them. But this will not remove the 
difficulty, and it will be said, that either Mary Mag- 
dalene was with the other Mary in the sepulchre, or 
there is an inaccuracy in the expression ; for the 
words, 4 women,' and 'fear not ye,' being plural, im- 
ply there were more than one. I grant it, and St. 
Mark informs us that Salome was there. But then, 
instead of one inaccuracy to be charged upon St. 
Matthew, here are two ; Mary Magdalene, who was 
not present when the other Mary saw the angel, is, 
by the natural construction of his words, said to be 
there ; and Salome, who was present, he takes no 
notice of at all. I allow it, and let those who are 
given to object make the most of it. But let it at 
the same time be remembered, that the greatest part 
of the evangelical writers were illiterate men, not 
skilled in the rules of eloquence, or grammatical 
niceties, against the laws of which it is easy to point 
out many faults in the writings of most of them. 
The other passage I purposed to make some remarks 
upon affords another instance of the same kind ; it 
is as follows : ' Then the eleven disciples went away 
into Galilee, into a mountain, where Jesus had ap- 
pointed them ; and when they saw him, they wor- 
shipped him; but some doubted.' Here the words, 
some doubted, by the strict rules of grammar, must 
be understood of some of the eleven disciples, who 
immediately before are said, when they saw Jesus, 
to have worshipped him, which surely is not very 
consistent with their doubting ; neither is it very 
probable, that a writer, however illiterate, should 
mean to contradict himself in the compass of three 
words. Another interpretation therefore, though it 



26 HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 

be not so strictly agreeable to the grammar rules, is 
to be sought after, since it is a less crime to offend 
against grammar than against common sense. Some 
doubted, must mean some besides the eleven, who 
were present upon that occasion, doubted. And 
indeed had St. Matthew, in the former part of this 
narration, taken notice that others besides the eleven 
were there, there would have been no difficulty in 
understanding, even according to the strictest laws 
of the syntax, to whom the some doubted did belong ; 
hi 6e } and bi Si, set in opposition to each other, and 
signifying some and others, these and those, are fre- 
quently to be met with in Greek authors of the 
greatest authority ; and no reason can be given, 
why, according to this manner of speaking the bi 

fit evi,£Ka fiaOrjral npoGtKvvrjaav dvrco — bi 6e edigaaav, should 

not be interpreted now, or then, the eleven disciples 
— worshipped him, but others doubted ; but that 
some words, to which the second &* tie [others] refer, 
are wanting. 

But these defects, how grievous soever they may 
seem to grammarians, or cavillers, still more scru- 
pulous and more punctilious than grammarians them- 
selves, will by no means impeach the veracity of 
this evangelist in the opinion of those, who, in mak- 
ing a judgment of his writings, are willing to take 
into the account the purpose he had in composing 
his Gospel. He wrote, as I observed before, at the 
request of the Jewish converts ; who, as St. Chry- 
sostom informs us, # came to him, and besought him 
to leave in writing, what they had heard from him 
by word of mouth. His view, in writing the Gospel 
therefore to the Jews, was to repeat what he had 
before preached to them ; in doing of which, it was 
f&l at all incumbent upon him to relate every minute 
circumstance, which he could not but know they 
were well acquainted with, and which the mention 
of the principal fact could not fail to recal to their 
memories. Thus in the two passages above cited (to 



* 'Yrrajxirr}. xepiEvayy. 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



27 



confine myself to them) it was not necessary for 
him, writing to the Jews, as it was for St. Mark, 
who wrote for the Egyptian converts,* to explain 
the business that carried Mary Magdalene and the 
other Mary to the sepulchre. It was doubtless known 
among the Jews that they had bought spices, and 
went to the sepulchre in order to embalm the body 
of Jesus. Neither was it worth while, for the sake 
of a little grammatical exactness, to interrupt the 
course of his narration, to acquaint them, that Salome 
joined the two Marys as they were going to the 
sepulchre, and went with them thither; and that 
Mary Magdalene, upon seeing the stone rolled away, 
ran immediately to inform Peter and John of it ; 
especially as he did not think proper to take notice 
of Christ's having appeared to her. And he seems 
to me to have mentioned Christ's appearing to the 
other women, only because it was connected with 
the principal fact, the story of his appearing in Gal- 
ilee to the eleven disciples and others. 

The disciples going to meet their Master on a 
mountain in Galilee, where he had appointed them, 
must needs have made a great noise among the 
Jews ; especially as it did not fall out till above a 
week at Jeast after the resurrection ; during which 
time he had appeared thrice to his disciples, (John 
21 : 14) not including his appearances to Peter, to 
the two disciples, and the women. And as above 
twenty people were witnesses to one or other of 
these appearances, the fame of them Was in all prob- 
ability diffused not only through Jerusalem, but 
throughout all Judea. It is no'wonder, therefore, 
that upon this solemn occasion, which had been no- 
tified so long before, not only by an angel at the 
sepulchre, and by Christ himself on the day of his 
resurrection, but foretold by him even before his 
death.; it is no wonder, I say, that upon so solemn 
an occasion a great multitude, besides the eleven, 
should be got together. St. Paul (1 Cor. 15:6) 



* Ibid. 



28 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



mentions an appearance of Christ to above five hun- 
dred brethren at once, which cannot, with so good 
reason, be understood of any other but this in Gali- 
lee. And though out of so large an assembly some 
doubted, as St. Matthew says, yet that very excep- 
tion implies, that the greatest number believed ; and 
even those who doubted must have agreed, in some 
common points, with those who believed. They, as 
well as the eleven, saw Jesus, but not having had 
the same sensible evidences of the reality of his 
body, doubted whether it was himself or his appari- 
tion whicfh they beheld ; while the latter, who needed 
no farther conviction, when they saw him, fell down 
and worshipped. Here then was a fact, which could 
not in all its circumstances but be very notorious to 
the Jews, and was therefore highly proper to be 
mentioned by St. Matthew. Here was a cloud of 
witnesses (1 Cor. 15:6) the greatest part of whom 
were alive when St. Paul wrote his Epistle to the 
Corinthians,* and therefore were certainly living 
when St. Matthew composed his Gospel ; and many 
of them probably were of the number of those con- 
verts for whom he wrote. Upon any of these sup- 
positions, and especially the last, it is easy to account 
for the concise manner in which he has related this 
important event. It either was, or might easily be 
known with all its circumstances by those to whom 
he addressed his Gospel. The little attendant cir- 
cumstances therefore it was as needless for him to 
mention as it was proper to take notice of the event 
itself. The Gospel of Christ and the faith of Chris- 
tians are both vain, if Christ be not risen from the 
dead. It was therefore absolutely necessary for the 
apostles and preachers of the Gospel to prove the 
resurrection ; this they did as well by their own 
testimony as by that of others, who had seen Jesus 
after he was risen. Thus (1 Cor. 15:5 — 8) St. 
Paul relates several appearances of Christ to Cephas 

* St. Paul's first Epistle to the Corinthians was written A. D. 
57. See Mr. Locke, ad locum. The Gospel according to St. 
Matthew about the year 53. 



OF THE RESUKRECTlOiV, 



29 



and others, and closes all with his own evidence ; 
adding, ' and last of all he was seen of me also.' 
The evangelists in like manner produce many in- 
stances of the same nature. St. Matthew speaks of 
two, St. Mark of three, St, Luke of as many, and St. 
John of four ; each of them selecting such as best 
suited with the purpose they had in view when they 
wrote their Gospels* It is evident that St. Matthew 
did so. For in what better manner could he prove 
to the Jews the resurrection of Christ, than by re- 
ferring them to the testimony of some hundreds of 
their own countrymen, who had all seen him after 
his death, and were so well convinced of the reality 
of his resurrection, that they believed and embraced 
his doctrine ? This surely was sufficient to convince 
those, who required a number of witnesses ; and 
was, among the Jews at least, the best answer to 
those, who, on the credit of a few Roman soldiers, 
pretended that the disciples had stolen the body. 
Upon this fact therefore he seems to rest his cause, 
and with it closes his Gospel, adding only the com- 
mission given by Christ to the apostles, and conse- 
quently to himself as one of them, 'to go and teach 
all nations,' and his promise of 'being with them 
always, even unto the end of the world.' 

Thus, upon the supposition that St. Matthew 
wrote his Gospel for the Jewish converts, which St. 
Chyrsostom positively asserts, I have endeavoured 
to account for some defects and omissions observable 
in his writings, as also for his having given us the 
history of the guarding the sepulchre, &c, and of 
Christ's appearing to the eleven disciples in Galilee, 
of which the other evangelists make no mention. I 
shall now make a few remarks upon the particulars 
related by St. Mark, and of which no notice is taken 
by St. Matthew ; but that I may not wander too far 
from my purpose, I shall confine them to such only 
as, belonging to the facts related by the latter, and 
having been mentioned only by the former, have in- 
duced some people to charge these two evangelists 
with contradicting one another. The circumstances, 



30 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



then, that I now intend to consider, are ; First, That 
of the women's ' having bought spices, that they 
might come and anoint the body of Jesus.' Second- 
ly, That of Salome's being one of these women ; and, 
Thirdly, That of their 1 entering into the sepulchre, 
and seeing a young man sitting on the right side, 
clothed in a long white garment, and their being 
affrighted.' I have already observed, that St. Mark 
wrote his Gospel for the use of the Egyptian Chris- 
tians : some say the Roman, but whether Roman or 
Egyptian is not material to the present question. 
It is certain they were Gentiles, and strangers to 
the Jewish customs and religion, as may be inferred 
from several little explanatory notes dropped up and 
down in his Gospel. In order, therefore, to give 
these strangers a perfect intelligence of the fact he 
thought proper to relate, it was necessary for him 
to begin his account with that circumstance of the 
women's ' having bought spices to anoint the body 
of Jesus,' that they might understand what business 
carried them so early to the sepulchre, and see, by 
the preparations made by those women for the em- 
balming the body of Jesus, and the little credit given 
by the apostles to the reports of those, who had seen 
our Lord on the day of the resurrection (which he 
mentions afterwards,) that his rising from the dead 
was an event not in the least expected by any of 
them, and not believed by the apostles even after such 
evidence as Jesus upbraided them for not assenting 
to ; from all which it was natural for them to conclude, 
that this fundamental article of their faith was nei- 
ther received nor preached but upon the fullest con- 
viction of its truth. But of this last point I shall 
speak more largely hereafter. For his mentioning 
Salome (which was the second thing proposed to be 
considered) no other reason can be given, and no 
better I believe will be required, than that she was 
there. And as to the third circumstance, viz : that 
of their 6 entering into the sepulchre, and seeing an 
angel there sitting on the right side,' &c, I shall 
show under the second head$ which I come now to 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 31 

consider, that though St. Mark has been more par- 
ticular in his relation of it, yet the principal points 
are implied in the account given by St. Matthew. 



SECTION IV. 

Facts in which Matthew and Mark coincide. 

The second head contains the circumstances in 
which these two evangelists agree. And they are 
these : First, The women's going to the sepulchre 
early in the morning on the first day of the week. 
Secondly, Their being told by an angel that Christ 
was risen, &c. I have nothing to add to the remarks 
I have already made upon the first ; but upon the 
second I must observe, that the several particulars 
put into the mouth of this angel of the sepulchre, by 
these two evangelists, are precisely the same, except 
the addition of Peter's name, inserted by St. Mark, 
doubtless for some particular reason, which it is no 
wonder we should not be able to discover at this 
great distance of time. This single variation will 
not, I presume, be thought sufficient to overturn the 
conclusion I would draw from the exact agreement 
of all the other particulars, that the fact related by 
these two sacred writers is the same ; especially if 
it be^onsidered, that the circumstance of the angel's 
being within the sepulchre, expressly mentioned by 
St. Mark, is so far from being contradicted by St. 
Matthew, as some have imagined, that it is plainly 
implied by these words, 'He is not here. Come 
(Sevre, which might more properly be translated, come 
hither) see the place, where the Lord lay. 5 As is 
also that other circumstance of the women's entering 
the sepulchre, by the Greek term ifrXOovcai, which 
should haye been rendered they went out, instead of 



82 HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



they departed, as it is in the parallel passage in St. 
Mark. To which let me farther add, that the des- 
cription of the angel's clothing, which was a long 
white garment, according to St. Mark, corresponds 
with the only particular relating to it taken notice 
of by St. Matthew, which was, its whiteness. 6 His 
raiment was white as snow.' In the latter, indeed, 
this angel is also painted with a 'countenance like 
lightning,' and the keepers are said to have trembled, 
&c, for fear of him. The purpose of this angel's 
descending from heaven seems to have been, not 
only to roll away the stone from the mouth of the 
sepulchre, that the women who were on the way 
thither might have free entrance into it, but also to 
fright away the soldiers, who were set to guard it; 
and who, had they continued there, would certainly 
not have permitted the disciples of Jesus to have 
made the necessary inquiries for their conviction, 
could it be supposed that either they or the women 
would have attempted to enter into the sepulchre, 
while it was surrounded by a Roman guard. For 
this end it is not unreasonable to suppose he might 
not only raise an earthquake, but assume a counten- 
ance of terror, and after it was accomplished put on 
the milder appearance of a young man, in which 
form the women, as St. Mark says, saw him ' sitting 
within the sepulchre, on the right side.' This sup- 
position, I say, is neither unreasonable nor presump- 
tuous. For, although to argue from the event to 
the design or intention may, in judging of human 
affairs, be deceitful or precarious, yet in the actions 
of God, the Supreme Disposer of all events, it is 
most certain and conclusive. Thus in the present 
case, the sudden appearance of an angel from hea- 
ven, attended by an earthquake,* his removing by 
his single strength a stone, which (according to 
Beza's copy of St. Luke's Gospel) twenty men could 
hardly roll, his taking his station upon it, and from 
thence, with a countenance like lightning, blazing 



* See Winston on the Resurrection, &c,, according to Beza, &e. 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



33 



flashing amid the darkness of the night, were 
circumstances so full of terror and amazement, that 
they could not fail of producing, even in the hearts 
of Roman soldiers, the consternation mentioned by 
the evangelist, and driving them from a post, which 
a divinity (for so according to their way of thinking 
and speaking they must have styled the angel) had 
now taken possession of. A cause so fitted to pro- 
duce such an effect is an argument of its being 
intended to produce it ; and the intention being an- 
swered by the event is a sufficient reason for varying, 
afterwards, the manner of proceeding. Accordingly 
the angel, after he had removed the stone, and 
frighted away the keepers from the sepulchre, quitted 
his station on the outside, put off his terrors, and, 
entering into the sepulchre, sat there in the form of 
a young man, to acquaint the women, that Jesus of 
Nazareth, whom they sought in the grave, was risen 
from the dead. 

That the angel was not seen by the women sitting 
on the stone without the sepulchre is evident, not 
only from the silence of all the evangelists, with re- 
gard to such an appearance, but also from what lias 
already been observed concerning Mary Magdalene, 
who, though she saw the stone rolled away from the 
sepulchre, yet saw no angel, as I showed above. 
Besides, had the angel remained sitting on the stone 
without the sepulchre, with all his terrors about him, 
he would, in all probability, by frightening away the 
women and disciples, as well as the soldiers, have 
prevented those visits to the sepulchre, which he 
came on purpose to facilitate. It was necessary, 
therefore, either that he should not appear at all 
to the women, or that he should appear within 
the sepulchre ; and in a form, which, although more 
than human, might however not be so terrible as to 
deprive them of their senses, and render them inca* 
pable of hearing, certainly of remembering that 
message, which he commanded them to deliver to 
the disciples. From all which considerations it may 
fairly be concluded, that the appearance of the angel 



S4 HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



without the sepulchre, mentioned by St. Matthew, 
was to the keepers only ; and that when he was 
seen by the women he was within the sepulchre, as 
St. Mark expressly says, and as the words above 
cited from St. Matthew strongly imply ; so that these 
two evangelists agree in relating, not only the words 
spoken by the angel, but the principal, and as it were 
characteristical circumstances of the fact, which 
from this agreement I would infer to be one and the 
same. The like agreement is also to be found in 
their account of the terror of the women upon seeing 
the angel, their speedy flight from the sepulchre, 
and the disorder and confusion which so extraordi- 
nary an event occasioned in their minds ; a confused 
and troubled mixture of terror, astonishment, and 
joy ; which, according to St. Mark, was so great as 
to prevent their telling what had happened to those 
they met upon the way. So must we understand 
4 neither said they any thing to any man.' For it is 
not to be imagined that they never opened their lips 
about it. Their silence doubtless ended with the 
cause of it, viz : their terror and amazement, and 
these, in all probability, vanished upon their seeing 
Christ himself, who, as St. Matthew has informed 
us, met them, ' as they were going to tell the disci- 
ples' the message of the angel, accosted them with 
an 'All-hail,' and bade them dismiss their fears, 
||ut of this more hereafter. 



SECTION V. 

Circumstances examined in ivhich Matthew and Mark 
are thought to disagree. 

1 come now under the third head to consider 
those particulars, in which these two evangelists are 
thought to clash and disagree with each other. But 



OF THE RESURRECTION"* 35 

so many of these have been already examined, and, 
as I hope, reconciled, under the two preceding divi* 
sions, that there remains to be discussed in this but 
one single point, arising from the seeming different 
accounts of the time when the women came to the 
sepulchre. St. Matthew says, that i Mary Magda* 
lene and the other Mary came to see the sepulchre, 
as it began to dawn ;' St. Mark, i They came unto 
the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.' To which 1 
must add St. John, who, speaking of the same per- 
sons, and the same fact, says, they came 4 when it 
was yet dark.' The ckotLs In oytrrjs of the latter, and 
the Ty In KpwcrKovcr] of St. Matthew, that signifying it 
being yet dark, and this, the day beginning to dawn, 
will, I believe, without any difficulty be allowed to 
denote the same point of time, viz : the ending of 
the night, and the beginning of the day ; the only 
question therefore is, how this can be reconciled 
with the time mentioned by St. Mark, namely, the 
rising of the sun. But this question, how perplexing 
soever it may appear at first sight, is easily resolved, 
only by supposing that St. Matthew, and with him 
St. John, speaks of the women's setting out, and St 
Mark of their arrival at the sepulchre. And indeed 
the order of St. Matthew's narration requires that 
his words should be understood to signify the time 
of their setting out ; otherwise, all that is related of 
the earthquake, the descent of the angel, &c, must 
be thrown into a parenthesis, which very much dis- 
turbs the series of the story, and introduces much 
greater harshnesses into the construction than any 
avoided by it. Nay, for my own part, I confess I 
can see no harshness in the interpretation now con- 
tended for. The Greek word ^Afc in St. Matthew, 
might as well have been translated went as came, 
the verb spx 0 ^ 01 signifying both to go and to come, 
and consequently being capable of either sense, ac- 
cording as the context shall require. That in St. 
Matthew, as I said before, requires us to take the 
word ?^Ge in the former, for the sake of order, and 
for another reason, which I shall now explain. The 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



principal fact, upon the account of which the whole 
story of the women's going to the sepulchre seems 
to have been related, is the resurrection of Christy 
and this fact is absolutely without a date, if the 
words of St. Matthew are to be understood to denote 
the time of the women's arrival at the sepulchre. 
When I say without a date,. I mean, that it does not 
appear from any thing in St. Matthew, or the other 
evangelists, what hour of that night this great event 
happened. All the information they give us is, that 
when the women came to the sepulchre they were 
told by angels he was risen : but, on the contrary, 
by understanding St. Matthew to speak of the time 
of Mary Magdalene's setting out to take a view of 
the sepulchre, we have the date of the resurrection 
settled, and know precisely, that Christ rose from 
*he dead between the dawning of the day and the 
sunrising. And can any substantial reason be as- 
signed why St. Matthew, having thought fit to enter 
into so circumstantial an account of the resurrection, 
should omit the date of so important a fact? or that, 
not intending to mark it, by mentioning the time of 
the women's going to the sepulchre, he should place 
that fact before another, which in order of time was 
prior to it ? All these considerations therefore are, 
in my opinion, powerful arguments for understanding 
this passage of St. Matthew in the sense above ex- 
pressed. About St. Mark's meaning there is no 
dispute. He certainly intended to express the time 
of the women's arrival at the sepulchre ; his words 
cannot be taken in any other sense. Those of St. 
John are limited to the same interpretation with 
those of St. Matthew, it having been allowed before, 
that they both speak of the same point of time. 

Before I quit the examination of these evangelists 
I beg leave to add a few remarks, on occasion of a 
word made use of in this place both by Mark and 
John, the explaining of which will set in a proper 
light some passages, that have not hitherto been 
brought sufficiently in view. The word I mean is 
ffpu>r ; which, having by our translators been ren- 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



37 



dered by the English word early, hath been limited 
to that sense only ; and yet it has a farther signifi- 
cation, and imports not (Vid. Scap. Lexicon) mature* 
only, but premature , ante constitutum tempus ; not 
only early, but over-early, before the appointed 
time ; and in this sense I am persuaded it was here 
used by the evangelists. For had they intended to 
denote only the time of the women's setting out, 
and arriving at the sepulchre, the descriptive phrases 
1 while it was yet dark,' and * at the rising of the 
sun,' would have been sufficient, and the more gen- 
eral word early absolutely redundant ; whereas in 
the other sense it is very significant, and greatly 
tends to illustrate and confirm what I hope more 
fully to make appear by comparing the several parts 
of this history together, that the women came at 
different times to the sepulchre, and not all at once, 
as has been imagined. The business that carried 
them all thither was to pay their last respects to 
their deceased master, by embalming his body, for 
which end they had bought and prepared unguents 
and spices, but were obliged to defer their pious 
work by the coming on of the sabbath, upon which 
day 4 they rested,' says St. Luke, * according to the 
commandment.' On the eve of the sabbath, there- 
fore, when they parted, and each retired to their 
several habitations, it is most natural to suppose, 
that they agreed to meet upon a certain hour at the 
sepulchre ; and as the errand upon which they were 
employed required day-light, the hour agreed on, in 
all probability, was soon after the rising of the sun ; 
their apprehension of the Jews, as well as their zeal to 
their Master, prompting them to take the earliest op- 
portunity. But Mary Magdalene, it seems, whether 
from a natural eagerness of temper, or a more ardent 
affection for her Lord, to whom she had the greatest 
obligations, or from a higher cause, set out together 
with the other Mary, just as the day began to break, 
in order to take a view of the sepulchre ; and having 
either called upon Salome, or joined her in the way, 
came thither together with her, npwi, early, before 



38 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



the time agreed on. This, in my opinion, is a very 
natural account of the whole matter, and points out 
the importance of those remarkable expressions, 
Went to 4 see the sepulchre,' in St. Matthew, and 
* who shall roll away the stone for us ?' in St. Mark. 
For, first, the reason of these two Marys setting out 
so early is here assigned : they went to take a view 
of the sepulchre, that is, in general, to see if all 
things were in the same condition, in which they 
had left them two days before, that if in that interval 
any thing extraordinary had happened, they might 
report it to their companions, and in conjunction 
with them take their measures accordingly. Hence 
it is also evident, in the second place, why they 
Were so few in number; they came to view the sep- 
ulchre, and came before the time appointed for their 
meeting. Secondly, as upon the present supposition 
there were but three women, who came first to the 
sepulchre, their design in coming so early could be 
no other than that expressed by St. Matthew ; for 
they knew that they themselves were not able to roll 
away the stone, which two of them at least (the two 
Marys) had seen placed there by Joseph of Arima- 
thea, (Mark 15 : 47) and which they knew could not 
be removed without a great number of hands. Ac- 
cordingly, 'as they drew near they said among 
themselves, Who shall roll away the stone for us 
from the door of the sepulchre ?' These words in- 
timate, that one of their chief views in coming to 
see the sepulchre was to survey this stone, which 
closed up the entrance into it, and to consider, 
whether they and the other women, who were' to 
meet them there, were by themselves able to remove 
it ; or whether they must have recourse to the as- 
sistance of others. For, 'Who shall roll away the 
stone for us ?' implies a sense of their own inability, 
and of the necessity of calling in others ; after which 
the only thing to be considered was whom and how 
many ? This therefore was the point under delib- 
eration when they approached the sepulchre. Sec- 
ondly, It is also plain from these words, that they 



OP THE RESURRECTION. 



39 



did not expect to find any body there, and conse- 
quently, that they knew nothing- of the guard, which 
the high priest had set to watch the sepulchre ; of 
which had they received any intelligence, they 
would hardly have ventured to come at all, or would 
not have deliberated about rolling away the stone, 
as the only or greatest difficulty. 



SECTION VI. 

Women at the Sepulchre on the Morning of the. 
Resurrection. 

LUKE, CHAPTER XXIV., VERSE 1 TO 12. 

Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, 
they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had 
prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the 
stone rolled away from the sepulchre. And they entered in, and 
found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as 
they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by 
them in shining garments : and as they were afraid, and bowed 
down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye 
the living among the dead 1 he is not here, but is risen : remem- 
ber how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, saying, 
The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, 
and be crucified, and the third day rise again. And they remem- 
bered his words, and returned from the sepulchre, and told all 
these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest. It was Mary 
Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and 
other women that were with them, which told these things unto 
the apostles. And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and 
they believed them not. Then arose Peter, and ran unto the 
sepulchre; and, stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid 
by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which 
was come to pass. 

In this relation of St. Luke's are many particulars 
that differ greatly from those mentioned by the other 
evangelists. For, first, the women, entering into 
the sepulchre, see neither angel nor angels : and, 
secondly, not finding the body of the Lord Jesus, 



40 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



they fall into great perplexity. Thirdly, In the 
midst of this perplexity 4 there stood by them two 
men in shining garments who, fourthly, say to 
them words very different from those spoken by the 
angel in St. Matthew and St. Mark. Fifthly. When 
those women return from the sepulchre, and tell all 
these things unto the eleven and all the rest, St. 
Peter is made to be present, and upon their report 
to rise immediately and run to the sepulchre, &c. 
These marks of difference, one would imagine, were 
sufficient to keep any one from confounding the 
stories above cited, of Joanna and St. Peter, with 
those concerning the Marys and that disciple related 
in the other Gospels ; especially as they have been 
observed and acknowledged, as well by the Christian 
as the infidel ; the latter of whom hath produced 
them to support the charge of inconsistency and 
contradiction, which he hath endeavoured to fix upon 
the sacred writers ; while the former, seduced and 
dazzled by some few points of resemblance, hath 
agreed with him in allowing these different facts to 
be the same ; but, denying his conclusion, hath la- 
boured to reconcile the inconsistencies, by rules 
and methods of interpretation, which, as they are 
strained and unnatural, tend only to discover the 
greatness of his embarrassment. Whereas the 
true way in my opinion, of answering this charge, 
is to show, that it is founded upon a mistake,"by 
showing, that the evangelists relate different, but 
not inconsistent facts ; and that, instead of clashing 
and disagreeing, they mutually confirm, illustrate, 
and support each other's evidence. This therefore 
I shall now endeavour to do, by making a few re- 
marks upon the several articles above mentioned. 
I shall begin with that relating to St. Peter, because 
the settling of that will settle many other points. 
'Then arose Peter, and ran unto the. sepulchre, and 
stooping down he beheld the linen clothes laid by 
themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at 
that which was come to pass.' This fact has always 
been taken to be the same with that related by St. 



OP THE RESURRECTION. 



41 



John, from which however it differs, among- other 
things, in this very material circumstance, viz : That 
whereas St. John expressly says, that Peter went 
into the sepulchre, while he [John] who got thither 
first, contented himself with barely stooping down, 
and looking into it, St. Luke, in the passage before 
us, tells us, 'that Peter, stooping down, and looking 
in, beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, ana 
departed.' The word napaKb^as (stooping down and 
looking in,) used by both evangelists, ana in the lat- 
ter applied only to St. Peter, in the former only to 
St. John, is in his Gospel plainly distinguished from 
the word darjXQev (entered in,) and set in direct op- 
position to it ; and that not by the force of etymology 
and construction only, but by some particulars re- 
sulting from the actions signified by those two words, 
which prove them to be distinct and different from 
each other. He, who went into the sepulchre, saw 
more than he, who 4 staying without, only stooped 
down and looked in.' Thus Peter and John, when 
they entered into the sepulchre, saw not only the 
linen clothes lie, but the napkin that was about his 
head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped 
together in a place by itself : but when they only 
'stooped down and looked in,' they could see only 
the linen clothes, as is evident from the words of St. 
John ; the whole passage runs thus : — 4 Peter there- 
fore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to 
the sepulchre ; and the other disciples did outrun 
Peter, and came first to the sepulchre, and he stoop- 
ing down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes 
lying, yet went he not in. Then cometh Simon 
Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, 
and seeth the linen clothes lie, and the napkin, that 
was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, 
but wrapped together in a place by itself. Then 
went in also that other disciple — and saw,' &c. 
Now these two actions being by these marks as 
clearly distinguished from each other in St. John, as 
the different places where they were performed can 
be by the terms entrance and inside of the sepulchre, 



42 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



and as so distinguished having been separately per- 
formed by that apostle, they must also necessarily 
be taken for separate and distinct actions, when re- 
lated of St. Peter. And if it be reasonable to con- 
clude from St. John's account, that Peter, when he 
came with him to the sepulchre, did not stop at the 
entrance, 'stoop down and look in,' but that he en- 
tered into it ; it is no less reasonable to conclude 
from St. Luke's narration, that when he came, at 
the time mentioned by him, he did not enter in, but 
stooping down, beheld the linen clothes and depart- 
ed, especially if the force of" the Greek word nova 
be considered, and the whole passage rendered, as 
it ought to have been, beheld the linen clothes only 
lying, rd dddvia KeifjLEva pom. From all which it evi- 
dently follows, that the fact here related of St. Peter, 
and that related of him by St. John, are separate and 
distinct facts, and not one and the same, as has been 
imagined. And as the facts were different, so did 
they take their rise from two different occasions, or 
in other words, as it is evident from all that has been 
just now said, tha4j^Jt£x--S£ejat^^^ 
chre, so there are two distinct reasons for his so doing 
assigned in the Gospels of Luke and John, viz: the 
reporro? MaYy'Magdafelfe, and that of Joanna and 
the other women. By the former having been told, 
that the body of Jesus was taken out of the sepul- 
chre, he ran in great haste to examine into the truth 
of that account^ and in pursuance of this intent en- 
tered into the sepulchre, that he might receive a 
thorough satisfaction upon that point. In the latter 
were two additional circumstances, of importance 
sufficient to awaken the curiosity of a less zealous 
disciple than St. Peter, whose affection for his Lord 
was like his natural temper, fervent and impetuous. 
V> hen he heard therefore from Joanna and the other 
women of a vision of angels, who had appeared to 
them at the sepulchre, and informed them that 
Christ was risen, can we wonder at his running 
thither, a second [time, in hopes of receiving some 
confirm^aUo^ ortne^lTuth of that report, which^ though 



OP THE RESURRECTION. 



43 



treated by the rest of the apostles as an idle tale, he 
certainly gave credit to, as the whole tenor of this 
passage implies ? I say a second time ; because, 
had be gone for the first time, upon this report of 
Joanna's, he could have had no inducement to have 

fone to the sepulchre a second time from any thing 
e could learn from the first report made by Mary 
Magdalene, whose account contained nothing but 
what was implied in that given by Joanna and the 
other women. His behaviour also upon this occa- 
sion, when he only stooped down and looked into 
the sepulchre, so different from the former, when 
he entered into it, is very rational, and consonant 
with the purpose of this second visit, which was, to 
see if the angels, who had appeared to the women 
at the sepulchre, were still there ; this could as well 
be discovered by looking, as by going, into the sepr 
ulchre, as is plain from the story of Mary Magdalene, 
who, 4 stooping down and looking in, saw two angels 
sitting, the one at the head and the other at the feet 
where the body of Jesus }iad lain,' as St, John 
tells us. 

E(>jd»g^3^w>as«-I4i^^ j 
St~£eJerWa^he~"s^ j 
in«stjiave4i£en his-s^cond^isit, f -have cleared this 
passage from two objections that lay against it ; one, 
that it did not agree with the relation given by St. 
John ; and the other, that it disturbed and confounds 
ed the whole order of St. Luke's narration : So that, 
notwithstanding this verse is wanting both in the 
Greek and Latin copies of Beza, there is no reason 
for rejecting it, as some have proposed. 

This point being settled, I beg leave to make a 
few inferences from it, in order to explain some 
passages in the preceding verses of this chapter. 

First, then, it is plain from this and the ninth verse, 
that St. Peter, after he had been with St. John and 
Mary Magdalene at the sepulchre, was now got to- 
gether with the other apostles and disciples^ whom 
in all probability he and John had assembled upon 
the occasion of Mary Magdalene's report. Peter, $ 



44 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



gay, and John, had in all probability assembled the 
other disciples and apostles to inform them of what 
they had heard from Mary Magdalene, and of their 
having been themselves at the sepulchre to examine 
into the truth of her report For it is not to be im- 
agined, that these apostles would not have immedi- 
ately communicated to the rest an event of so much 
consequence to them all, as that of the Lord's body 
being missing from the sepulchre* And as we now 
find them gathered together, and Peter with them, 
it is no unnatural supposition, that they had been 
summoned thither by John and Peter. At least, 
their meeting together so early in the morning is 
this way accounted for. Here then we see the rea- 
son of St. Luke's naming Mary Magdalene and the 
other Mary among those which told these things to 
the apostles. For although these two women were 
not with Joanna and her set, and consequently could 
not have joined with them in relating to the apostles 
the vision of the two angels, &c, yet as the account 
of their having found the stone rolled away, and the 
body of Jesus missing, had been reported from them 
by Peter and John to the other apostles, before the 
return of Joanna from the sepulchre, St. Luke 
thought fit to set them down as evidences of some 
of the facts related by him ; and indeed it was very 
proper to produce the testimony of the two Marys 
concerning the stone's being rolled away, and the 
body gone, because they first went to the sepulchre, 
and first gave an account of those two particulars 
to the apostles. I here join the other Mary with 
Mary Magdalene ; for though I think it is pretty 
plain from St. John, that she alone brought this ac- 
count, yet it is remarkable, that in her narration she 
eays, We know not where they have laid him, speak- 
ing, as it were, in the name of the other Mary and 
her own ; and doubtless she did not omit to acquaint 
them, that the other Mary came with her to the sep- 
ulchre ; so that this report, though made by Mary 
Magdalene alone, may fairly be taken for the joint 
report of the two Marys, and was probably styled 



OP THE RESURRECTION. 



45 



so by Peter and John, and therefore represented as 
such by St. Luke in the passage before us. 

Secondly, From hence also I infer, that the re- 
ports of the women were made separately, and at 
different times. For if Peter went twice to the sep- 
ulchre, there must have been two distinct reasons 
for his so doing, which reasons I have shown to be 
the reports of Mary Magdalene and Joanna : and as 
there was a considerable interval between his first 
and second visit, a proportionable space of time 
must have intervened between the two reports. 
After Mary Magdalene's, he had been at the sepul- 
chre, had returned from thence to his own home, 
and was now got with the other apostles and disci- 
ples, whom, as I said, he and John had in all prob- 
ability called together, before Joanna, and the wo- 
men with her, came to make theirs. 

Thirdly, As the reports were made at different 
times, and by different women, as the facts reported 
were different, and said to have happened all in the 
same place, viz : at the sepulchre, and as these facts 
must of consequence have happened at different 
times, it follows, that the women, who reported those 
facts as happening in their presence, must have 
been at the sepulchre at different times. For had 
they been all present at each of these events, no 
reason can be given for their differing so widely in 
their relations ; and pretty difficult will it be to ac- 
count for their varying so much as to the time of 
making their reports. Here then is a strong argu- 
ment in favour of what I have before advanced con- 
cerning the women's coming at different times to 
the sepulchre, and particularly about the Marys 
coming thither earlier than the rest. The reason 
for their so doing I have already pointed out in my 
observations upon St. Mark, and have shown, that 
upon the supposition of that reason being the true 
one, their whole conduct was proper and consistent : 
which leads me to consider that of Joanna and the 
other women, who came somewhat later, and with 
another purpose to the sepulchre. The former came 



46 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



to take ' a view' or survey of the sepulchre, as St, 
Matthew expressly says ; the latter came to embalm 
or anoint the Lord's body, and for that end not only 
brought the spices, which they had prepared, but 
were also accompanied by other women. Other 
women, must mean some besides those who followed 
Jesus from Galilee, of whom alone St. Luke speaks 
in the former part of this verse, and the latter part 
of the preceding chapter. By these, therefore, as 
contra-distinguished from the Galilean women, he 
propably means the women of Jerusalem, a great 
company of whom followed Jesus as he was going 
to his crucifixion, bewailing and lamenting him. 
(See the 27th verse of the preceding chapter.) But 
what number of them went upon this occasion with 
the women of Galilee is not anywhere said ; neither, 
of these, are any named besides Joanna, Mary Mag- 
dalene, and Mary the mother of James, though many 
others followed Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem, as 
both Matthew (27 : 55,) and St. Mark (15 : 41) inform 
us, and were present at his crucifixion. It is there- 
fore very probable, that most, if not all, of those 
who were wont to minister to him in Galilee, who 
attended him to Jerusalem, and accompanied him 
even to Mount Calvary, contributed to this office of 
embalming their Master's body, either by buying 
and preparing the unguents and spices, and carrying 
them to the sepulchre, or by going to assist their 
companions in embalming the body and rolling away 
the stone, for which purpose 1 suppose the women 
of Jerusalem principally attended, since none of 
them seem to have made any purchase of spices for 
embalming the body ; and for this last purpose it is 
farther probable they thought their numbers suffU 
cient. Accordingly, we do not find them saying 
among themselves, who shall roll away the stone for 
us ? as the Marys did ; nor do we find the Marys, 
bringing the spices which they had bought, as i& 
here related of Joanna and those with her ; and 
doubtless the evangelists had a meaning in their use 
and application of these expressions, the former of 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



47 



which is very agreeable to the purpose that carried 
the Marys so early to the sepulchre, as is the latter 
to that of Joanna, who, coming to embalm the body, 
brought with her all that was necessary for per- 
forming that business, viz : the spices, and other 
women to assist her in rolling* away the stone, &c. 
The different conduct of the women therefore in- 
dicates their several purposes in going to the sepul- 
chre, and tends to confirm what I have been all 
along labouring to prove, that they went thither at 
different times, and not all together. 

And as their having had different motives was the 
cause of their going at different times, and dividing 
themselves into different companies, so from their 
coming to the sepulchre in different bodies, sprang 
a subdivision of one of those companies, which I 
shall now explain. The two Marys and Salome 
came first to the sepulchre, and as they drew near, 
lifting up their eyes, perceived that the stone, which 
was very great, was rolled away from the entrance ; 
upon sight of which, Mary Magdalene, concluding 
that the body of Jesus was taken away, ran immedi- 
ately to acquaint Peter and John with it, leaving her 
two companions at the sepulchre. That she was 
alone when she came to those two apostles is 
strongly implied by the whole tenor of that passage 
in St. John, where this fact is related, bs I have al- 
ready observed; and that she left her companions 
at the sepulchre is as evident, from what St. Mark 
says of their entering into the sepulchre, &c. The 
reason of which probably was this, she knew that 
Joanna and her company would not be lono" before 
they came thither, and might therefore think it proper 
to desire the other Mary and Salome to wait for them 
there, to inform them that they had found the stone 
rolled away, &c, and that she was gone to acquaint 
Peter and John with it ; but whether this, or any 
other reason, was the cause of Mary Magdalene's 
going by herself to Peter and John, and the other 
two women's staying behind at the sepulchre, is not 
very material to inquire : all I contend for is, that 



48 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



so it was ; and that hence arose a subdivision of this 
company, that gave occasion to two appearances of 
angels, and as many of Christ, and consequently 
multiplied the proofs and witnesses of the resur- 
rection. 

I hope by this time it is sufficiently evident, that 
the facts related by the several women to the apos- 
tles were different and distinct facts ; and therefore 
I think it unnecessary to enter into any farther ar- 
gument upon that point. And although, in the be- 
ginning of my observations upon this chapter of St. 
Luke, I noted some particulars wherein this story of 
Joanna differs from that of the other women, and 
promised to make some remarks upon them, yet, for 
the last mentioned reason, I dare say I shall be 
easily acquitted of my promise, especially as those 
marks of difference are so obvious and striking, that 
little more need be done than pointing them out to 
observation. I must however beg leave to observe, 
that the position relating to the angels appearing 
and disappearing as they thought proper, laid down 
in my remarks upon St. John, is farther proved by 
the manner of their appearing mentioned here in 
St. Luke, which is implied to have been sudden, not 
only by the force and import of the expression, but 
by the remarkable circumstance of their not being 
seen by the women at their entering into the sep- 
ulchre. 



SECTION VII. 

Interview of the Disciples with Christ at Emmaus. 

Though the following passage of this chapter 
relating to Christ's appearance to the disciples at 
Emmaus, hath been already produced in part, yet I 



[ w 9 " 

OF THE RESURRECTION. 49 

think it proper to insert it entire in this place, that, 
by the reader's having it all before hirn at once, he 
may be better able to judge of the observation I 
intend to make upon it. 

LUKE, CHAPTER XXIV., VERSE 13 TO 35. 

* And behold two of them went that same day to a village called 
Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. 
And they talked together of all those things which had happened. 
And it came to pass, that while they communed together and 
reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. But 
their eyes were holden, that they should not know him. And he 
said unto them, What manner of communications are these that 
ye have one to another, as ye walk and are sad 1 And one of 
them, whose name was Cleopas, answering, said unto him, Art 
thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things 
which are come to pass there in these daysl And he said unto 
them, What things 1 And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus 
of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before 
God and all the people ; arid how'the chief priests and our rulers 
delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him. 
But we trusted that it had been he, which should have redeemed 
Israel : And besides all this, to-day is the third day since these 
things were done. Y/ea, and certain women also of our company 
made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre ; and 
when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had 
also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive. And 
certain of them which were with us, went to the sepulchre, and 
found it even so as the women had said : but him they saw not. 
Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all 
that the prophets have spoken ! Ought not Christ to have suffered 
these things, and to enter into his glory 1 And beginning at Mo- 
ses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the Scrip- 
tures the things concerning himself. And they drew nigh unto 
the village whither they went, and he made as though he would 
have gone farther. But they constrained him, saying, Abide 
with us, for it is towards evening, and the day is far spent. 
And he went in to tarry with them. And it came to pass, as he 
sat at meat with them, he took bread and blessed it, and brake 
and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew 
him ; and he vanished out of their sight. And they said one to 
another, Did not our hearts burn within us, while he talked with 
us by the way, and while he opened to us the Scriptures 1 And 
they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found 
the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, 
saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. 
And they told what things were done in the way, and how he 
was known of them in breaking of bread.' 

Whoever reads this story over, with any degree 
of attention, and considers the subject of the con- 
versation, which our Saviour held with the two dis- 



50 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



ciples upon the road to Emmaus, will perceive, that 
it must have arisen from what the angels had said 
to the women, related in the preceding verses of 
this chapter. To set this matter in the clearest 
light, we will put the several parts together. The 
angels said to the women, who came to embalm the 
body of Jesus, 'He is not here, but is risen. Re- 
member how he spake unto you, when he was yet 
in Galilee, saying, The Son of Man must be deliv- 
ered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, 
and the third day rise again.' The words of our 
Saviour, referred to by the angels, are these (Luke 
18:31 — 33,) 'Then he took unto him the twelve, 
and said unto them, Behold we go up to Jerusalem, 
and all things that are written by the prophets con- 
cerning the Son of Man shall be accomplished. For 
he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be 
mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on ; 
and they shall scourge him, and put him to death, 
and the third day he shall rise again.' The words 
of the angels, these two disciples had heard from the 
women, before they left Jerusalem ; and as they 
were walking towards Emmaus, and talking over all 
the wonderful things that had come to pass, they 
seem at last to have fallen into a debate upon the 
subject of these words, and the prophecies referred 
to by them, just as our Saviour drew near. That 
they were engaged in some argument or disquisition 
I infer, not only from the Greek word cvfy-zTv, which 
signifies to discuss, examine, or inquire together ; 
but from our Saviour's question, who, apparently, 
having overheard some part of their discourse, asks 

them, Tiveg ot \uyoi ovtol oug aiTifldWcre irpog «AA??Aous ; 

' What arguments are these, that ye are debating 
One with another while ye walk, and are sad ?' the 
subject of their argument appears in their answer to 
this question, in which they give him to understand, 
that they were reasoning upon the things that had 
come to pass concerning Jesus of Nazareth, < whom,' 
say they, alluding plainly to the words of the angels, 
' the chief priests and our rulers have delivered to 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



&1 



be condemned to death, and have crucified him.' 
And hence arises all our sadness, for i we trusted 
that it had been he which should have redeemed 
Israel ; and over and above all these things, to-day- 
is the third day since these things were done (another 
allusion to the words of the angels ;) and to-day 
some women of our company astonished us with an 
account of their having been early at the sepulchre, 
and not rinding the body of Jesus, having there been 
told by angels that he was risen from the dead. 
And some of our companions, running immediately 
to the sepulchre, found the report of the women to 
be true ; but him they saw not.' The sufferings, 
and death, and resurrection of Jesus were the sub- 
jects of their debates, foretold, as the angels bade 
them remember, out of the prophets, by Christ him- 
self ; and the scope of their inquiry was how to rec- 
oncile these events with the prophecies, to which 
they were referred. Part of them they had seen 
accomplished in the sufferings and death of Christ ; 
and that ought to have assured them of the accom- 
plishment of the other part. But either from not 
understanding, or from a backwardness in believing 
all that the prophets had said, they stopped short of 
this conclusion. For this ignorance and backward- 
ness Christ reproves them ; asks them whether (ac- 
cording to the prophets) * Christ ought not to have 
suffered these things, and to enter into his glory,' 
that is, to rise again ; and then, beginning at Moses 
and all the prophets, he expounds to them, in all the 
Scriptures, the things concerning himself. The 
connexion is visible ; at the beginning of the chap- 
ter the angels refer the disciples for the proof of the 
resurrection to the prophets ; and here, Christ join- 
ing two of those disciples on the road, is, by their 
discourse upon that subject, led to explain those 
prophecies, and prove from them, that the Messiah 
was certainly risen from the dead. And in the like 
manner is the remaining part of this chapter, to verse 
the 46th, connected with this and the preceding. 
For these two disciples, returning to Jerusalem, re- 



52 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



late to the apostles and the rest, whom they found 
gathered together, what had passed between Christ 
and them upon the road to Emmaus ; and while they 
were speaking, Christ himself appears ; and, after 
having given them sensible proofs of his being risen 
from the dead, reminds them, as the angel had done, 
of the words which he spake unto them in Galilee, 
saying, ' These are the words which I spake unto 
you, while I was yet with you, that all things must 
be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, 
and in the prophets, and in the Psalms concerning 
me. Then opened he their understanding, that they 
might understand the Scriptures ; and said unto them 
thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, 
and to rise from the dead the third day.' 

The connexion and dependence of the several 
parts of this chapter upon each other point out to us 
the reason that induced St. Luke to relate the vision 
of the two angels to Joanna and the other women ; 
and at the same time prove that vision to be distinct 
and different from those seen by the Marys ; each 
of which had, in like manner, its separate and pecu- 
liar reference to other facts, as will presently be seen. 



SECTION VIII. 

Christ seen of the Women after his Resurrection. 

I shall now proceed to consider the appearances 
of Christ to the women, on the day of his resurrec- 
tion ; which, like those of the angels, have also been 
confounded, and from the same cause, viz : from the 
want of attending with due care to the several cir- 
oumstances, by which they are plainly distinguished 
from each other. And, first, I observe, that these 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



53 



appearances of Christ are so connected with the 
appearances of the angels, that these having been 
proved to be distinct, it follows that those are distinct 
also. Secondly, St. Mark expressly tells us, that 
Christ appeared first to Mary Magdalene, which, 
according to all propriety of speech, implies that she 
was alone at the time of that appearance, as I have 
said once before. But I think it best to set down 
the passages themselves, of St. John and St. Mat- 
thew, in which these appearances are related. John 
*20:11, 'But Mary stood without at the sepulchre, 
weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and 
looked into the sepulchre, and seeth two angels in 
white, sitting, the one at the head, and the other at 
the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain : and they 
say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou ? she saith 
unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, 
and I know not where they have laid him. And 
when she had thus said, she turned herself back, 
and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was 
Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest 
thou ? Whom seekest thou ? She, supposing him 
to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have 
borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, 
and I will take him away. Jesus saith unto her, 
Mary ! She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rab- 
boni ! which is to say, Master! Jesus saith unto her, 
Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended unto my 
Father : But go to my brethren, and say unto them, 
I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to 
my God and your God. Mary Magdalene came and 
told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and 
that he had spoken these things unto her.' Matthew 
28 : 9, ' And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, 
Jesus met them, saying, All hail ! And they came 
and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. Then 
said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid : go tell my 
brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall 
they see me.' 

After having produced these two pasages, it would 
be wasting both time and words to go about to prove 



54 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



the appearances therein mentioned to be different* 
Compare them, and you will find them disagree in 
every circumstance ; in the place, the persons, the 
actions, and the words. Of which last I must ob* 
serve, that they refer to two different events, viz: 
the ascension of Christ into heaven, and meeting his 
disciples in Galilee, of which they were prophecies ; 
and by which they, and consequently these appear- 
ances of Christ, were not long after verified, though 
discredited at first, and treated as idle tales. 

I have now gone over the several particulars of 
the history of the resurrection, related in the four 
evangelists, have examined them with all the atten- 
tion I am capable of, and with a sincere desire of 
discovering and embracing the truth ; and have, as 
I think, made out the following points : First, that 
the women came at different times, and in different 
companies to the sepulchre. Secondly, That there 
were several distinct appearances of angels. Third- 
ly, That the angels were not always visible, but 
appeared and disappeared as they thought proper. 
Fourthly, That these several facts were reported to 
the apostles at different times, and by different wo- 
men. Fifthly, That there were two distinct appear-^ 
ances of Christ to the women ; and, Sixthly, That 
St. Peter was twice at the sepulchre. These points 
being once established, all the objections against 
this part of the Gospel history, as contradictory and 
inconsistent, entirely vanish and come to nought. 
That very learned and ingenious men have been 
embarrassed by these objections is some excuse for 
those who first started them, and those who have 
lately insisted upon them. Their having now re- 
ceived an answer (if that will be allowed) is a clear 
proof, that it was always possible to answer them, 
even with a very moderate share of common sense 
and learning. The nature of the answer itself, which 
is founded upon the usual, obvious, plain sense of 
the words, without putting any force, either upon 
the particular expressions, or the general construc- 
tion of the several passages^ is an evidence of what 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



55 



I now say. So that I must needs acknowledge that 
its having been so long missed is a matter of far 
greater surprise, than its having been hit upon now. 

I shall here beg leave to subjoin a few observations 
of a very eminent and judicious person, to whose 
inspection I submitted these papers ; and in whose 
approbation of them I have great reason to pride 
myself. They are as follows : 

6 To prove the appearances at the sepulchre to be 
different, and made to different persons, two things 
concur : — 

'I. The several accounts as given by the evan- 
gelists. 

'II. The circumstances which attended the case, 

'The first point is fully considered ; and of the 
second it is very justly remarked, that the women 
having agreed to be early at the sepulchre, it fell 
out naturally, "that some came before others." 
Now there being at the place of meeting something 
to terrify them as fast as they arrived ; it accounts 
also for their dispersion, and their not meeting at all 
in one body. It may help likewise to account for 
the manner of delivering their messages to the apos- 
tles ; supposing the messages not delivered in the 
same order in point of time, as the appearances hap- 
pened. For the most terrified might be the latest 
reporters, though they received their orders first. 
Which observation is favoured by St. Mark's ovSevi 
otSh ehov. "neither said they any thing to any man." 

'The difficulty upon stating the appearances to be 
different, and made to different persons, arises chiefly 
from Mary Magdalene being mentioned as present 
by every evangelist: but there seems to be this 
reason for it ; she was at the head of the women, 
and the chief of those who attended our Lord, and 
followed him from Galilee ; and Mary Magdalene 
and the women with her, denotes the women who 
came from Galilee, in the same manner that the 
eleven denotes the apostles. 

4 Three evangelists say expressly, that many wo- 
men were present at the crucifixion : Iladitbeea 



56 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



left so generally, we should have had no account 
who they were. Therefure St. Matthew, 27:56, 
adds, h aii >>, among whom was Mary Magdalene, 
&c. So it is again^Mark 15 :40. St. Luke having 
said in general terms, that the women who followed 
from Galilee were spectators of the crucifixion, goes 
on with the account (24: 1) of their coming to the 
sepulchre, seeing angels, and returning tcTtell the 
eleven and all the rest. But to give credit to their 
report, and to correct the omission in not describing 
them before, he tells us who they were : and how 
does he describe them? Why, by saying they were 
of the company of Mary Magdalene : y Haav 6t h 
MaybaXrivh. foe. 24 : 10, which verse admits, perhaps 
requires, a different reading from that in our trans- 
lation. 

4 These considerations seem to account for her 
being mentioned in the transactions of these women, 
thouD-h not always present herself. St. Luke says, 
(24:1) that besides the women from Galilee, there 
were other women there. To distinguish those who 
made the report to the disciples, from the other wo- 
men, he adds the words already referred to.* 

* The words of St. Luke deserve a prirticular examination ; 
they run thus in the Greek : — Kal vTro^-pixbaaai d-d rev (xv^peiov 
drrrjyyEiXav ravra ravra roig evdeKOL Kal ixcLil ro'ig Xoi-oig. "*Rcra.v 
3z >7 ~SlaySci\r]i')i Mapia. vat 'Ico.Ti/i/a Kal Mapca : IaKoj/?yu, Kal ai 
Xoinal gvv avraig ai eXeyov ~pdg ruvg d-ocroXovs ravra. Tn En- 
glish, 'And turning back from the sepulchre, they told all these 
things to the eleven, and to all the rest. Now they, who related 
these things to the apostles, were Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, 
and Mary the mother of James, and the rest with thern (that is, 
of their company.') As the account of the proceedings of the 
Galilean women begins in tiie foregoing chapter, and is carried 
on without any interruption to the ninth verse of this chapter, so 
that the several verhs occurring in this and the preceding verses 
are all governed by the same nominative case, viz : yvvaiKts, in 
verse 55 of the 23d chapter, it is evident, that ravra -rravra, 'all 
these things,' must be taken to extend to all the particulars men- 
tioned in that account, and cannot be confined to the transactions 
of the sepulchre only ; and the same observation holds equally to 
the ravra in the following verse. The utmost therefore that can 
he inferred from St. Luke's naming Mary Magdalene and the 
other Mary is. that they were concerned in some or other of these 
transactions, and joined in relating some of these things to the 
aj>ostles j which is true, for they ' sat over against the sepulchre,' 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 57 



* It is remarkable, that St. Mark says of the women, 
mentioned by him, no more than that they had bought 
spices to anoint the body ; enough to show with 
what intent they went to the tomb ; that they had 
any spices with them he does not say. But St. Luke 
says of those he mentions, that they actually brought 
with them the spices ; and not only so, but that they 
had prepared them ; that is, made them fit for the 
use intended. The several drugs were bought sing- 
ly, each by itself at the shop, and were necessarily 
to be mixed, or melted together for use : and I im- 
agine, that, though all the women joined in buying 
the spices, yet the care of getting and preparing 
them was left particularly to the women mentioned 
by St. Luke : and as they were Galileans, and not 
at home at Jerusalem, and probably unacquainted 
%vith the method of embalming bodies, that they 
employed some inhabitants of the place to buy and 
prepare the spices, and to go with them to apply 
th^m to the body ; and these are the favhcvv avrats, 
others with them, in St. Luke. 

4 This will account for St. Matthew saying nothing 
of spices — for they had none with them. They set 

when Joseph laid in it the body of the Lord, (Matt. 27 : 61 0 * And 
beheld where he was laid,' {Mark 15 ^ 47.) They also ' had bought 
sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him,' (Mark 16 : 1.) 
And were the first who came to the sepulchre that morning, and 
brought the first account of the body's being missing (Matt, and 
Mark.) And though, by comparing the accounts given by the 
other evangelists with this of St. Luke, it appears, that neither of 
these women went with Joanna and her company to the sepulchre ; 
yet as they were Galilean women, and bore a part, and a princi- 
pal part too, in what the women of Galilee were then chiefly 
employed about, namely, the care of embalming the body of Jesus, 
there is certainly no impropriety in St. Luke's naming them with 
Joanna and the rest, as he does in the end of the general and col- 
lective account he ffives of what was reported and done by the 
Galilean women. Neither does his naming them appropriate to 
them any particular part of that general account, any more than 
his not naming them would have excluded them from their share 
of those transactions, and the report then made to the apostles. 
In this case they would have been included in the general terms 
of Galilean women ; as by being named, they are distinguished 
and marked as the most eminent persons and leaders of that com- 
pany of women, who followed Jesus -from Galilee, &c. 



58 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



out before those, who were to bring the slices, to 
see wh.a ^condition the sepulchre, was in ; and their 
business Is properly expressed By Tcu>prf§di r%v rd<pc* r 
to^sa<Ah«u sepulahre. 

'Mary Magdalene was with the first (Matthew and 
Mark) who went to the sepulchre ; but I think she 
did not go to the sepulchre then : As soon as she 
was in sight of the place, lifting up her eyes, 
i s dva(3\ida<ra, Mark 16 : 4) and seeing the stone remove 
oed* she turned instantly (rp^a otv, John 20 : 2} to tell 
Peter and John. And it is plain by her behaviour 
at her second going, that she had no share in the 
fright, that seized, those who went on after she left 
/Ihem,' 



SECTION IX. 

attending OccuiTences of the Resurrection* 

Having thus cleared the way, I shall now set 
down the several incidents of this wonderful events 
in the order in which, according to the foregoing 
observations, they seem to have arisen ; after pre- 
mising, that our Saviour Christ was crucified on a 
Friday (the preparation, or the day before the Jewish 
sabbath,) gave up the ghost about three o^clock in the 
afternoon of the same day, and was buried that eve- 
ning, before the commencement of the sabbath, 
which among the Jews was always reckoned to be- 
gin from tbe first appearance of the stars on Friday 
evening, and to end at the appearance of them again 
on the day we call Saturday : that some time, and 
most probably towards the close of the sabbath, after 
the religious duties of the day were over, the chief 
priests obtained of Pilate, the Roman governor, a 
guard to watch the sepulchre, till the third day was 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



59 



past, pretending to apprehend, that his disciples 
might come by night, and steal away the body, and 
then give out that he was risen, according to what 
he himself had predicted while he was yet alive s 
that they did accordingly set a guard, made sure the 
sepulchre, and, to prevent the soldiers themselves 
from concurring with the disciples, they put a seal 
upon the stone which closed up the entrance of the 
sepulchre. 

The order I conceive to have been as Follows:—* 
Very early on the first day of the week (the day 
immediately following the sabbath, and the third 
from the death of Christ) Mary Magdalene and the 
other Mary, in pursuance of the design of embalm*- 
ing the Lord's body, which they had concerted with 
the other women, who attended him from Galilee to 
Jerusalem, and for the performing of which they had 
prepared unguents and spices, set out, in order to 
take a view of the sepulchre, just as the day began 
to break. And about the time of their setting out 
< there was a great earthquake ; for the angel of the 
Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled 
back the stone from the door of the sepulchre, and 
sat upon it: his countenance was like lightning, and 
his raiment white as snow ; and for fear of him the 
keepers did shake, and became as dead men,' during 
whose amazement and terror Christ came out of the 
sepulchre ; and the keepers being now recovered 
tmt of their trance, and fled, the angel, who till then 
sat upon the stone, quitted his station on the outside-, 
and entered into the sepulchre, and probably dis- 
posed the linen clothes and napkin in that order, in 
which they were afterwards found and observed by 
John and Peter. Mary Magdalene, in the mean 
while, and the other Mary, were still on their way 
to the sepulchre, where, together with Salome (whom 
they had either called upon, or met as they were 
going,) they arrived at the rising of the sun. And 
as they drew near, discoursing about the method ot 
putting their intent of embalming the body of their 
Master in execution, * they said among themselves, 



60 HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



who shall roll us away the stone from the door of 
the sepulchre ? for it was very great ;' and they 
themselves (the two Marys at least) had seen it 
placed there two days before, and seen with what 
difficulty it was done. But in the midst of their de- 
liberation about removing this great and sole obsta- 
cle to their design (for it does not appear that they 
knew any thing of the guard,) 4 lifting up their eyes,' 
while they were yet at*some distance, they perceived 
it was already rolled away. Alarmed at so extraor- 
dinary and so unexpected a circumstance, Mary 
Magdalene concluding, that, as the stone could not 
be moved without a great number of hands, so it 
was not rolled away without some design ; and that 
they, who rolled it away, could have no other design 
but to remove the Lord's body ; and being convinced 
by appearances that they had done so, ran immedi- 
ately to acquaint Peter and John with what she had 
seen r and what she suspected, leaving Mary and 
Salome there, that if Joanna and the other women 
should come in the mean time, they might acquaint 
them with their surprise at finding the stone remov- 
ed, and the body gone, and of Mary Magdalene's 
running to inform the two above-mentioned apostles 
of it. While she was going on this errand, Mary 
and Salome went on, and entered into the sepulchre, 
i and there saw an angel sitting on the right side, 
clothed in a long white garment, and they were af- 
frighted. And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted : 
ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he 
is- risen, he is not here : behold the place where 
they laid him. But go your way, tell his dis- 
ciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Gal- 
ilee ; there shall ye see him, as he said unto you. 
And they went out quickly and fled from the sepul- 
chre ; for they trembled and were amazed ; neither 
s tid they any thing to any man ; for they were afraid.' 
After the departure of Mary and Salome came John 
and Peter, who having been informed by Mary 
Magdalene, that the body of the Lord was taken 
away out of the sepulchre, and that she knew not 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



61 



where they had laid him, 1 ran both together to the 
sepulchre; and the other disciple [John] outran Pe- 
ter, and came first to the sepulchre ; and he stooping 
down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying, 
yet went he not in. Then coineth Simon Peter fol- 
lowing him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth 
the linen clothes lie, and the napkin that was about 
his head not lying with the linen clothes, but wrap- 
ped together in a place by itself. Then went in 
also that other disciple, which came first to the sep- 
ulchre, and he saw and # believed ; for as yet they 
knew not the Scripture, that he must rise again from 
the dead. Then the disciples went away again unto 
their own home. But Mary stood without at the 
sepulchre, weeping ; and as she wept, she stooped 
down, and looked into the sepulchre, and seeth two 
angels in white, sitting, the one at the head, and the 
other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain ; 
and they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou ? 
She saith unto them, Because they have taken away 

* Believed.] Commentators have generally agreed to understand 
by this word no more than that St. John believed, what Mary 
Magdalene suggested, viz: that they had taken away the Lord's 
body; and they seem to have been led into this opinion by the 
words immediately subjoined, 4 for as yet they knew not the 
Scripture, that he must rise again from the dead which words 
contain a sort of an excuse for their not believing that he was 
risen. It is however certain, that by the word believe, when it is 
put absolutely, the sacred writers most commonly mean, to have 
what is called faith ; and in this sense it is used no less than three 
times in the latter part of this chapter. To obviate this objection, 
retain the usual signification of this verb, and yet reconcile this 
verse wiih the following, it is pretended, that Beza's old Greek 
Manuscript says he did not believe, that is, instead of enis-evasv 
it has gvk tni^evatv, or fiTris-evcrev. Instead of entering into 
an examination which of these two readings is to be preferred, 
I shall only observe, that Beza himself, 'in his comments upon 
this passage, takes no notice of the various reading above men- 
tioned ; on the contrary, he contends that St. John did believe 
the resurrection. These are his words: — ' Et credidit, koi 
crcircvaev, Christum videlicet resurrexisse, quanquam tenuis adhuc 
foret haec fides, et aliis testimoniis egeret, quibus confirmaretur. 
Joannes igitur solus jam turn hoc credidit,' &c. See his Greek 
Testament in folio, printed at Geneva, A. D. 1598. And I own 
I am most inclined to his opinion, for reasons which will appear 
in the course of this work. 



6 



62 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



my Lord, and I know not where they have laid 
him. And when she had thus said, she turned her- 
self back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not 
that it was Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, 
why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, 
supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, 
Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where 
thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus 
saith unto her, Mary ! She turned herself, and saith 
unto himj Rabboni ! which is to say, Master! Jesus 
tfaith unto her, Touch me not, for I am not yet as- 
cended unto my Father: but go to my brethren, and 
say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your 
Father, and to my God and your God.' After this 
appearance of Christ to Mary Magdalene, to whom 
St. Mark says expressly he appeared first, the other 
Mary and Salome, who had fled from the sepulchre 
in such terror and amazement that 8 they said not 
any thing to any man,' (that is, as I understand, had 
not told the message of the angel to some* whom 
they met, and to whom they were directed to deliver 
it,) were met on their way by Jesus Christ himself, 
who said to them 4 all hail ! and they came and held 
him by the feet, and worshipped him. Then said 
Jesus unto them, Be not afraid, go tell my brethren 
that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see 
me.' These several women and the two apostles 
being now gone from the sepulchre, Joanna, with 
the other Galilean women, ' and others with them, 
came bringing the spices which they had prepared 
for the embalming the body of Jesus, and finding 
the stone rolled away from the sepulchre, they en- 
tered in, but not finding the body of the Lord Jesus, 
they were rhuch perplexed thereabout. And behold 
two men stood by them in shining garments ; and 
as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to 

* Probably John and Peter, who were running with Mary Mag- 
dalene to the sepulchre, about the time that these women were 
flying from it, mijrht have been discerned by them at a distance, 
though the terror they were in might occasion their not recollect- 
ing them immediately. But of this I shall hereafter say something 
more. 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



63 



the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the 
living among the dead ? he is not here, but is risen. 
Remember how he spake unto you, when he was 
yet in Galilee, saying, the Son of Man must be de- 
livered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, 
and the third day rise again. And they remembered 
his words, and returned from the sepulchre, and told 
all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest. 
And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and 
they believed them not.' But Peter, who upon the 
report of Mary Magdalene had been at the sepulchre, 
had entered into it, and with a curiosity that bespoke 
an expectation of something extraordinary, and a 
desire of being satisfied, had observed, that the linen 
clothes, in which Christ was buried, and the 4 napkin 
which was about his head,' were not only left in the 
sepulchre, but carefully wrapped up, and laid in 
several places ; and who from thence might begin 
to suspect, what his companion, St. John, from those 
very circumstances, seems to have believed — Peter, 
I say, hearing from Joanna, that she had seen a vis- 
ion of angels at the sepulchre, who had assured her 
that Christ was risen, starting up, ran thither imme- 
diately, and knowing that the angels, if they were 
within the the sepulchre, might be discovered with- 
out his going in, he did not, as before, enter in, but 
stooping down looked so far in as to see the 'linen 
clothes, and departed, wondering in himself at that 
which was come to pass.' And either with Peter, 
or about that time, went some other disciples, who 
were present when Joanna, and the other women, 
made their report, 'and found it even so as the wo- 
men had said. The same day two of the disciples 
went to a village called Emmaus, which was from 
Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. And they 
talked together of all those things which had hap- 
pened. And it came to pass, that while they com- 
muned together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew 
near, and went with them. But their eyes were 
holden that they should not know him. And he said 
unto them, What manner of communications [argu- 



64 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



ments] are these that ye have one to another, as ye 
walk and are sad ? and one of them whose name 
was Cleopas, answering, said unto him, Art thou 
only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known 
the things which are come to pass there in these 
days ? And he said unto them, What things ? and 
they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, 
which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before 
God and all the people ; and how the chief priests 
and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to 
deatl?, and have crucified him. But we trusted that 
it had been he, which should have redeemed Israel: 
and beside all this, to-day is the third day since these 
things were done. Yea, and certain women also of 
our company made us astonished, which were early 
at the sepulchre ; and when they found not his body, 
they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision 
of angels, which said that he was alive. And certain 
of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, 
and found it even so as the women had said : but 
him they saw not. Then he said unto them, O fools, 
and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets 
have spoken ! Ought not Christ to have suffered 
these things, and to enter into his glory ? and be- 
ginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded 
unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning 
himself. And they drew nigh unto the village whi- 
ther they went, and he made as though he would 
have gone farther. But they constrained him, say- 
ing, Abide with us, for it is towards evening, and 
the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with 
them. And it came pass, as he sat at meat with 
them, he took bread and blessed it, and brake and 
gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and 
they knew him ; and he vanished out of their sight. 
And they said one to another, Did not our hearts 
burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, 
and while he opened to us the Scriptures ? and they 
rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, 
and found the eleven gathered together, and them 
that were with them, saying, the Lord is risen in- 



Of THE RESURRECTION. 



65 



deed, and hath appeared to Simon. And they told 
what things were done in the way, and how he was 
known of them in breaking of bread*' 

This is the order, in which the several incidents 
above related appear to have arisen ; the conformity 
of which with the words of the evangelists inter* 
preted in their obvious and most natural sense, I 
have shown in my remarks upon the passages where- 
in they are contained: and although the reasons 
there given are, as I apprehend, sufficient of them- 
selves to justify the exposition I contend for, yet, 
for the better confirmation of what has been ad- 
vanced, I beg leave to lay before you an observation 
or two, suggested by this very order itself, from 
whence its aptness and tendency to the great end, 
to which it was in all its parts directed and disposed 
by the hand of Providence, viz : the proof of the res- 
urrection of Christ, will manifestly appear. 



SECTION X. 

State of Mind oj the Apostles and Disciples on the 
Death of Christ 

First, then, by this order, in which all the differ- 
ent events naturally and easily follow, and as it were 
rise out of one another, the narration of the evange- 
lists is cleared from all confusion and inconsisten- 
cies. And, secondly, The proof of the resurrection 
is better established by thus separating the women 
into two or more divisions, than upon the contrary 
supposition, which brings them all together to the 
sepulchre ; for in the last case, instead of three dif- 
ferent appearances of angels to the women, and two 
of Jesus Christ, we should have but one of each ; 
whereas in the former there is a train of witnesses, 



66 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



a succession of miraculous events, mutually strength- 
ening and illustrating each other, and equally and 
jointly concurring to prove one and the same fact ; 
a fact, which, as it was in its own nature most aston- 
ishing, and in its consequences of the utmost impor- 
tance to mankind, required the fullest and most 
unexceptionable evidence. And I will venture to 
say, never was a fact more fully proved ; as I doubt 
not to make appear to any one, who with me will 
consider, First, The manner; Secondly, The matter 
of the evidence ; and, Thirdly, The characters and 
dispositions of the persons whom it was intended to 
convince. By these I chiefly mean the apostles and 
disciples of Jesus, who were to be the witnesses of 
the resurrection to all the world. By the manner, I 
understand the method and order in which the sev- 
eral proofs were laid before them : and by the matter, 
the several facts of which the evidence consisted. 

I shall begin with the apostles and disciples, for 
whose conviction the miraculous appearances of the 
angels, and of Christ himself to the women, were 
principally designed ; and the knowledge of whose 
general characters, as well as of the particular dis- 
positions of their mind at that time, will throw a light 
upon the other points proposed to be considered. 

The greatest part, if not all, of the apostles and 
disciples of Jesus, those at least who openly and 
avowedly followed him, were men of low birth and 
mean occupations, illiterate, unaccustomed to deep 
inquiries and abstracted reasonings ; men of gross 
minds, contracted notions, and strongly possessed 
with the selfish, carnal, and national prejudices of 
the Jewish religion, as it was then taught by the 
scribes and pharisees. And hence, although it is 
evident from several passages in the Gospel history, 
that, convinced by the miracles performed by Jesus 
of Nazareth, and the accomplishments of many 
prophecies in him, they believed him to be the Mes- 
siah, yet their idea of a Messiah was the same with 
that of their brethren the Jews ; who, by not rightly 
understanding the true meaning of some prophecies, 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



67 



expected to find in the Messiah a temporal prince, a 
redeemer and ruler of Israel, who should never die. 
And so deeply was this prejudice rooted in the minds 
of the apostles, as well as the rest of the Jews, that 
although our Saviour constantly disclaimed the char- 
acter of a temporal prince, and upon many occasions 
endeavoured to undeceive his disciples, yet they 
could not wholly give up their opinion, even after 
they had seen him risen from the dead, and received 
that incontestable proof of his being the Messiah, 
and of their having mistaken the sense of the proph- 
ecy about his being never to die. For in one of his 
conferences with them after his resurrection they 
ask him, whether he would at that time (Acts 1 : 6) 
< restore the kingdom to Israel ?' with so much ob- 
stinacy did they adhere to their former prejudices. 
This therefore being their settled notion of the Mes- 
siah, can we wonder their former faith in him should 
be extinguished, when they saw him suffering, cru~ 
cified, and dying ; and, instead of saving others, not 
able to save himself? To prepare them for these 
events he had indeed most circumstantially foretold 
his own sufferings, death and resurrection : but the 
apostles themselves assure us that they did not un^ 
derstand those predictions till some time after their 
accomplishment ; and they made this confession at 
a time, when they were as sensible of their former 
dulness, and undoubtedly as much amazed at it, as 
they now pretend to be, who object it against them ; 
so that their veracity upon this point is not to be 
questioned. Immortality, therefore, and temporal 
dominion being, in their opinions, the characteristics 
of the Messiah, the sufferings and death of Jesus 
must have convinced them before his resurrection 
that he was not the Messiah, not that person, in 
whom they had trusted as the redeemer and king of 
Israel. And having, as they imagined, found them- 
selves mistaken in their faith as to this point, they 
might with some colour of reason be cautious and 
backward in believing any predictions about his ris- 
ing from the dead, had they understood what thos§ 



68 HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 

predictions meant. The state of mind, therefore, 
into which the apostles fell upon the death of their 
Master, must have been a state of perplexity and 
confusion ; they could not but reflect upon his mi- 
raculous works, and his more miraculous holiness of 
life, and were not able to account for the ignominious 
death of so extraordinary a person : — a state of de- 
jection and despair 5 they had conceived great ex- 
pectations from the persuasion, that he was 'the 
Christ of God :' but these were all vanished ; their 
promised deliverer their expected king was dead 
and buried, and no one left to call him from the 
grave, as he did Lazarus. With his life, they might 
presume, ended his power of working miracles ; and 
death, perhaps, was an enemy he could not subdue, 
eince it was apparent he could not escape it ; and 
hence proceeded their despair. It was likewise a 
6tate of anxiety and terror. The Jews had just put 
their Master to death as a malefactor and impostor ; 
what then could his followers expect from his invet- 
erate and triumphant enemies, but insults and re- 
proaches, and ignominy, scourges* chains, and death ? 
The fear of the Je ws made them desert their Master, 
when he was first seized ; made Peter, the most 
zealous of the apostles, 'deny him thrice,' even with 
oaths and imprecations ; and made the apostles and 
disciples, when they met together, on the day of the 
resurrection, to confer upon the accounts they had 
received of Christ's being risen, retire into a cham- 
ber, and shut the door, lest they should be discovered 
by the Jews. Such then was the state of the apos- 
tles' minds upon the death of their Master, full of 
prejudice, doubt, perplexity, despair, and terror : 
distemperatures that required a gentle treatment, 
lenient medicines, and a gradual cure. Which leads 
me to consider in the next place the manner, that is, 
the method and order of that evidence by which 
they were recovered into a state of sanity ; and from 
deserters of their Master, converted into believers, 
teachers^ and martyrs of the Gospeh 



OP THE RESURRECTION, 



69 



SECTION XL 

Substance of the Evidence of Christ's Resurrection, 
satisfy ing his Disciples of the Fact. 

The first alarm they received was from Mary 
Magdalene, who early in the morning, on the third 
day from the burial of our Saviour, came running to 
inform Peter and John, that she had found the stone 
rolled from the mouth of the sepulchre, and that the 
body of the Lord was taken away. This information 
carried those two apostles thither, who entered into 
the sepulchre, and found the linen clothes, in which 
his body had been wrapped, and the napkin, that 
was bound about his head, folded up, and lying in 
different parts of the sepulchre. These circumstan- 
ces, trifling as they may seem at first sight, were, if 
duly considered, very awakening, and very proper 
to prepare their minds for something extraordinary ; 
since nothing but the resurrection of Jesus could, in 
right reason, be concluded from them. The body 
they saw was gone ; but by whom could it be taken 
away ? and for what purpose ? Not by friends ; for 
then in all probability they would have known some- 
thing about it : not by the Jews, for they had nothing 
.to do with it. Pilate, to whom alone the disposal of 
it belonged, as the body of a malefactor executed by 
his orders, had given it to his disciples, who laid it 
in the sepulchre but two days before ; and wherefore 
should they remove it again so soon ? Not to bury it : 
for in that case they would not have left the spices, 
the winding-sheet, and the napkin behind them. 
Whoever therefore had removed the body, they 
could not have done it with a design to bury it ; and 
yet no other purpose for the removal of it could well 
be imagined. Besides, it must have been removed 
in the night by stealth, and consequently in a hurry : 



70 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



how then came the winding sheet and the napkin to 
be folded up, and disposed in so orderly a manner 
within the sepulchre ? Add to all this, that the 
stone was very large, and therefore many people 
must have been concerned in this transaction, not 
one of whom was there to give an answer to any 
questions. These, or such-like reflections could not 
but rise in their minds, and these difficulties could 
not but dispose them to expect some extraordinary 
event. Kis life, they knew, was a life of miracles, 
and his death was attended with prodigies and won- 
ders ; all which could not but come crowding into 
their memories ; and yet none of them at that time 
(excepting John) believed that he was risen from 
the dead; ' for as yet (as that apostle assures us) 
they knew not the Scripture, that he must rise again 
from the dead ;' that is, they did not understand from 
the prophets, that the Messiah was to rise again from 
the dead, being on the contrary persuaded, that 
these very prophets had foretold the Messiah ' should 
not die, but abide forever.' 

The next information they received was from Jo- 
anna,* and the woman who accompanied her to the 

* I have placed this report of Joanna next to the relation above 
cited made by Mary Magdalene, and before the second report 
made by her, and that of the ether two Marys ; because, by what 
the two disciples, who were going to Emmaus, say to Jesus, it is 
evident that they had heard the report of Joanna, and had not, 
when they left the rest of the disciples, heard either of the last 
mentioned reports, farther, by their using the first person plural 
in speaking of those, to whom this report was made, as 'some 
women of our company made us astonished,' compared with what 
St. Luke says at the ninth verse, ' of the women returning and 
telling all those things to the eleven and all the rest,' it looks as 
if they were of the number of those, who were present when this 
report was made ; and that St. Peter was of that number is evi- 
dent, and so, I think, were all the eleven, and many other of 
those called disciples, assembled together probably by John and 
Peter, as was before observed. These several points being ad- 
mitted, it will follow, that the report of 1 Joanna and those with 
her' was made to 'the eleven' and all the rest, previously to the 
second report of Mary Magdalene, and that of the other two Ma- 
rys, though the events, which gave occasion to the two latter, 
were in order of time prior to that related by Joanna ; for if any 
of those, who were present when Joanna related what had hap* 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



71 



sepulchre, who acquainted them with two new and 
very surprising particulars, viz : That they had there 
seen a vision of angels, and that those angels had 
told them that Jesus was risen, and had moreover 
reminded them of what himself had formerly spoken 
to his disciples concerning his sufferings, his death, 
and his resurrection on the third day, being foretold 
by the prophets. What various reflections must 
these two amazing circumstances immediately sug- 
gest to them! The great difficulty, about the body 
of their Master being missing, which had so much 

pened to her at the sepulchre, had heard, that Christ had appeared 
to Mary Magdalene and the two other Marys, they would doubt- 
less have mentioned it upon that occasion, in which case it must 
.have been heard, and would as certainly have been mentioned by 
the two disciples, in their conversation with Jesus on the way to 
Emmaus ; and even supposing they were not present when Jo- 
anna made her report, but received it only from some who were, 
it is probable that they, who told them the particulars relating to 
Joanna and Peter's second visit to the sepulchre, would at the 
same time have informed them of the accounts given by Mary 
Magdalene and the other Marys, had they at that time heard any 
thingof them. There may indeed be some difficulty in accounting 
for this, especially as the appearance of Christ to Mary Magdalene 
was very early : and it is said, John 20: 18, that she went and 
told it to the disciples ; and still more expressly by St. Mark, 16 : 
20 ; and if her zeal and haste in carrying the news of the stone's 
/ being removed, and the warmth of her own temper, and the ex- 
press command of Christ to her to acquaint his disciples, he con- 
sidered, it will appear very probable, that she went on this errand 
immediately ; and it is very natural to think that she went directly 
to Peter this second time, as she did the first ; and that apostle, 
when he left her at the sepulchre, went directly home, as did also 
John. (John 20: 10.) But if he and Peter were gone to acquaint 
the other disciples with the Lord's body being missing, as is above 
supposed, her not finding them immediately is easily accounted 
for; besides which many other things might happen unknown to 
us to bring Joanna and those with her to Peter and the other dis- 
ciples, before they saw Mary Magdalene tfter her second visit to 
the sepulchre, and before the other two Marys came with their 
message, who, notwithstanding their nearness to the city when 
Christ appeared to them, and the early date of that appearance, 
might possibly not he enough recovered from their fright to deliver 
their message immediately ; or if they were, they might, for the 
reason above given, miss that apostle [Peter] to whom they were 
particularly commanded to deliver it, and to whom therefore, in 
all probability, they went directly. All these things, however, 
are mere conjectures, and as such I submit them to the judgment 
of the reader. 



72 HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



alarmed and puzzled them, was at once solved. 
Angels told the women he was risen from the dead ; 
and to induce them the more easily to believe so 
astonishing an event, bade them remember, that 
Christ himself had, not only from the spirit of proph- 
ecy, with which they knew he was endowed, but 
from the prophets also predicted his own sufferings 
and death, and rising again from the dead on the 
third day. The words of their Master they well re- 
membered, and were so far convinced that the wo- 
men spoke truth. Those parts also of this prediction, 
which related to his sufferings and death, they had 
seen most exactly accomplished; and that was a 
powerful argument for their believing that the rest 
might be so too ; besides, this was the third day, the 
very day on which Jesus had told them he should 
rise from the dead. The argument therefore drawn 
from the testimony of the prophets, upon which their 
disbelief of the resurrection was principally founded, 
was here attacked ; and the interpretation of their 
Master, verified in most of the particulars by tire 
event, was here set up in opposition to that of the 
scribes and pharisees, whose leaven they had so fre- 
quently been cautioned against. But then they did 
not understand what was meant by his rising from 
the dead. Was he once more to live with them 
upon earth ? If so. where was he ? Nobody had as 
yet seen him, neither the women, nor those among 
them, who, upon their report, had gone to the sep- 
ulchre. Ey his rising from the dead therefore might 
be meant, that God had taken him into heaven, as 
he did Enoch and Elijah ; and could they hope he 
would return from thence to be the redeemer and 
king of Israel ? To obviate these several difficulties, 
and proceed one step farther towards explaining to 
them the meaning of the resurrection, they were 
probably acquainted in the next place by Mary 
Magdalene, that she had seen, not angels only, but 
Christ himself, who had appeared unto her as she 
stood weeping at the sepulchre ; that at first indeed 
she did not know him, taking him for the gardener ; 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



73 



that upon his calling her by her name she knew 
him ; that having offered to embrace him, he forbade 
her, giving her for a reason, that * he was not yet 
ascended to his Father :' but bidding her, go and 
tell his disciples, that in a short time he should 4 as- 
cend to his Father and their Father, his God and 
their God.' In this relation of Mary Magdalene's 
were three articles of great importance. First, A 
stronger proof than any they had hitherto received, 
of Christ's being risen from the dead : Mary Mag- 
dalene had seen him. Secondly, He told her he 
was not yet 1 ascended to his Father,' by which there 
seemed to be some hopes given them, that they also 
might have the satisfaction of seeing him. Thirdly, 
The words ' 1 ascend to my Father,' &c. plainly re- 
ferred to a conversation he had with them before he 
was betrayed, in which he told them that he should 
4 go to his Father,' &c. By these words, therefore, 
they were not only reminded of another prediction 
of his, but called upon to expect the great things, 
which were to be the consequence of his ' going to 
the Father,' viz : The * coming of the Comforter,' a 
power of working miracles ; and, what would be an 
earnest of all these things, the joy of seeing him 
again ; all which he had promised them in the con- 
versation alluded to in this message. (See John 13: 
14.) Yet some doubts and difficulties still remained. 
Nobody but Mary Magdalene had seen him ; and 
she did not know him at first, but took him for 
the gardener. Perhaps the whole was illusion ; but 
allowing it was Christ whom she saw, why was she 
commanded not to touch him ? It was probably an 
apparition, and not Christ himself. Besides, where- 
fore did he not appear to his disciples, who according 
to his own promise were to see him again ? The 
whole story therefore might still appear to them an 
idle visionary tale. 

To deliver them from these perplexities nothing 
could be better calculated than the account given 
by the other Mary and Salome, which imported, that 
they also had been at the sepulchre, where they had 



74 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



seen an angel, who not only assured them that 
* Christ was risen,' but ordered them to tell his dis- 
ciples, that * they should meet him in Galilee,' agree- 
ably to what he himself had said to them in his life- 
time : that they were so amazed and terrified at this 
vision, that they fled from the sepulchre with the 
utmost precipitation, intending to communicate these 
things to the apostles, as the angel had commanded 
them, but were so overcome with fear, that they had 
not the power to tell what they had seen and heard, 
to some whom they saw in the way. That, as they 
were going, Jesus Christ himself met them, and sa- 
luting them with an 4 All hail! bade them not be 
afraid, but go and tell his brethren that they should 
go into Galilee, and that they should see him there 
to which they added, that 'they went and held him 
by the feet, and worshipped him.' And farther they 
informed Peter, that the angel had expressly enjoin- 
ed them to deliver this message to him in particular. 
Had the apostles and disciples given credit to this 
account of Mary and Salome, they could have had 
but one scruple left. Jesus had now appeared to 
two women besides Mary Magdalene ; had permitted 
those women to embrace his feet, and given thereby 
a sensible proof that it was himself, and not an ap- 
parition, and had also appointed a nlace, where they 
themselves were to see him. The only scruple, 
therefore, that now remained, arose from their not 
having seen him themselves ; and till they did, they 
seemed resolved to suspend their belief of his being 
risen from the dead, and treated all these several 
visions of the women as so many idle tales. 

It is observable, that all these miraculous inci- 
dents followed close upon the back of one another, 
and consequently were crowded into a small com- 
pass of time ; so that we ought to be the less sur- 
prised at the apostles not yielding at once to so 
much evidence. Such a heap- of winders were 
enough to amaze and overwhelm their understand- 
ings. They were therefore left for a time to ru- 
minate upon what they had heard ; to compare the 



OP THE RESURRECTION. 



75 



several reports together ; to examine the Scrip- 
tures ; and recollect the predictions and discourses 
of their Master, to which they were referred both 
by the angels and himself. But the examination of 
the Scriptures was a work of some time ; and in the 
situation in which they then were, their minds un- 
doubtedly were in too great an agitation to settle 
to such an employment, with the composure and 
attention that was necessary. Besides, it must be 
remembered, they were a company of illiterate men, 
not versed in the interpretations of prophecies, nor 
accustomed to long arguments and deductions ; and 
were moreover under the dominion of an inveterate 
prejudice, authorized by the scribes and pharisees, 
the priests and elders, whose learning and whose 
doctrines they had been instructed early to revere. 
To assist them in their inquiries, and lead them to 
the true sense of the Scriptures, the only rational 
means of conquering their prejudices, Christ himself 
appeared that same day to two of his disciples, who 
were going to Emmaus, a village about threescore 
furlongs distant from Jerusalem, and whom he found 
discoursing and reasoning, ss they went, upon those 
very topics. These disciples, as I have already 
showed, had left Jerusalem, before any of the women 
who had seen Christ had made their report ; at least 
that report had not come to their knowledge. All 
they had heard was, that some women, who had 
been early at the sepulchre, had there been informed, 
by angels, that he was risen from the dead, and put 
in mind that he himself had formerly predicted his 
resurrection, by showing, out of the prophets, that 
so it was to be. This argument were they debating, 
when our Saviour joined them ; who, questioning 
them upon the subject of their debate, and the afflic- 
tion visible in their countenances, and understanding 
from the account they gave, that they were still 
unsatisfied as to the main point, and seemed to put 
the proof of his being risen from the dead upon his 
showing himself alive, rebuked them first for their 
* ignorance and backwardness in believing all that 



76 HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



the prophets had spoken ; and then beginning at 
Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them 
in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.' 
During this whole conversation they knew him not; 
* their eyes were holden,' as St. Luke informs us, 
and for what reason is very plain. The design of 
Christ in entering into so particular an exposition of 
the prophets was to show, that, by making a proper 
use of their understanding, they might, from those 
very Scriptures, whose authority they allowed, have 
been convinced that the 'Messiah ought to have 
suffered,' as they had seen him suffer, 1 and to rise 
from the dead on the third day.' That is, Christ 
chose rather to convince them by reason than by 
sense ; or, at least, so to prepare their minds, that 
their assenting afterwards to the testimony of their 
senses should be with the concurrence of their rea- 
son. He had proceeded in the same manner with 
the other disciples at Jerusalem, from all of whom 
he had hitherto withholden the evidence of sense, 
having- not appeared to any of them, excepting Peter, 
till after the return of these two disciples to Jerusa- 
lem. This proceeding, at once so becoming the 
Lord of righteousness and truth, and the freedom of 
man as a reasonable being, must have been prevent- 
ed, had Christ discovered himself to them at his first 
appearing. Wonder and astonishment in that case 
had taken place of reason, and left them, perhaps, 
when the first strong impression was a little worn 
away, in doubt and scepticism. But now having 
duly prepared them to receive the testimony of their 
senses, he discovered himself to them, and that by 
an act of devotion, 'in breaking of bread,' which 
among the Jews was always attended with a thanks- 
giving to God the giver of our daily bread. But 
there seems to have been something peculiar in this 
action, upon which account it was mentioned by St. 
Luke in his narration of this history, and by the two 
disciples themselves, when they related to the apos- 
tles at Jerusalem, what had happened to them at 
Emmaus. The manner undoubtedly of breaking 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



77 



the bread, and probably the form of words in the 
thanksgiving, were particular to our Saviour ; and 
these latter perhaps were the very same with those 
made use of by him at the last supper. At least, 
these two actions are described by St. Luke in the 
same words, viz : 'He took bread, and gave thanks, 
and brake it, and gave to them.' If so, how strongly 
were they called upon by this action to remember 
their Lord, who had instituted that very form in re- 
membrance of his death! and how properly did it 
accompany that discovery of himself which he now 
thought fit to make to them ! Accordingly they 
were convinced, and 'returned that same hour to 
Jerusalem,' where they found the apostles assembled 
together and debating, apparently upon the several 
reports they had heard, that day, and particularly 
upon what Peter had told them, to whom, some time 
that day, Christ had appeared. But as neither the 
time, nor the particulars of that appearance are re- 
corded by the evangelists, T shall not pretend to say 
any thing more about it, than that the apostles seem 
to have laid a greater stress upon that alone, than 
upon all those related by the women. For upon 
these two disciples coming into the chamber, they 
accost them immediately, without waiting to hear 
their story, with ' The Lord is risen indeed, and hath 
appeared to Simon,' but make no mention of any of 
his appearances to the women. After which the two 
disciples related what had happened to them in the 
way to Emmaus, and 'how he was known of them 
in breaking of bread.' But St. Mark says (16:13) 
they did ' not believe these two disciples' any more 
than they had done the others, to whom Christ had 
appeared ; which words seem to contain a sort of a 
contradiction to what they themselves seem to ac- 
knowledge in saying, 'The Lord is risen indeed, 
and hath appeared to Simon.' Let us therefore ex- 
amine these two passages with a little more atten- 
tion. The whole passage in St. Mark is this : ' After 
that, he appeared in another form to two of them, as 
they walked, and went into the country, and they 



78 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



went and told it unto the residue, neither believed 
they them.' To which I must add the following 
(Mark 16:14): * Afterward he appeared unto the 
eleven, as they sat at meat, and upbraided them 
with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because 
they believed not them which had seen him after he 
was risen.' By comparing these passages in St. 
Mark with the parallel passage in St. Luke, it will ap- 
pear what the belief of the apostles was, and what 
their unbelief. The parallel to the first has been 
already considered. The course of my narration 
leads me now to consider that to the second ; and 
in doinir of this, I shall take occasion to observe how 
they illustrate and explain each other, and thereby 
vindicate these two evangelists from the suspicion of 
contradicting one another's account. 

The apostles, by the several relations of the wo- 
men, which they received early in the morning, and 
upon which they had had sufficient time to comment 
and reflect (for it was now night,) and afterwards 
by those of Peter and the two disciples from Em- 
maus, being ripe for conviction, Christ vouchsafed 
to give them that evidence they seemed so much to 
desire, and which having been granted to others, 
they had some reason to hope for and expect. Ac- 
cordingly, as the disciples from Emmaus had just 
finished * their story, ' Jesus himself stood in the 
midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto 
you; and they were terrified and affrighted, and 
supposed they had seen a spirit.' Here then was 
their error, "and in this consisted their unbelief. 
They acknowledged indeed that Christ was risen 
from the dead, but did not believe that he had bodily 
appeared to those, who pretended to have seen him, 
and to have had sufficient evidence upon that point. 
These, St. Mark says, they did * not believe f and 
we learn from St. Luke, that when he appeared to 
them, they did 1 not believe' even their own eyes, 
but 'supposed they had seen a spirit' That this 
was the' unbelief, for which, as we read in St. Mark, 
our Saviour rebuked them, is evident from what fol- 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



79 



lows after in St. Luke. ' And he said unto them, 
why are ye troubled? And why do thoughts [rea- 
sonings, 6ia\oyiaixol] arise in your hearts ? Behold 
my hands and my Feet ! that it is I myself: handle 
me and see ; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, 
as ye see me have. And when he had thus spoken, he 
showed them his hands and his feet.' We may judge 
of the distemper by the remedy. He bade them 
feel and see that it was no spirit, but he himself. 
Why? because they doubted of it. 'And he up- 
braided them with their unbelief and hardness of 
heart,' because they doubted of it, notwithstanding 
the testimony of people, whose veracity they had no 
•reason to suspect, and who brought credentials with 
them, that could not be forged. It being evident 
from these passages, thus compared together, that 
the unbelief of the apostles, mentioned by St. Mark, 
and the belief which they professed, according to 
St. Luke, were both partial, those two evangelists 
are thus perfectly reconciled. 

But if any one should still insist, that these words 
of the apostles and disciples, 'The Lord is risen in- 
deed, and hath appeared to Simon,' imply that they 
then had a full and explicit belief of the resurrection 
of Christ, as from the force of the word indeed I am 
myself inclined to think, and should demand how 
they came afterwards to disbelieve the two disciples, 
and to suspect even that appearance which them- 
selves saw ? I answer, that in the appearance of 
Christ to the two disciples, and in that afterwards to 
themselves, were some circumstances, which at first, 
and till more satisfactory proofs were given, might 
naturally tend to confound and unsettle the faith, 
which they had taken up upon the evidence of Pe- 
ter. Because Christ appeared first to the two disci- 
ples in another form, and vanishing out of their sight 
as soon as he was made known to them, seemed 
better to suit with the idea of his being a spirit, than 
a living body ; and his entering into the room where 
they were assembled, 'the doors being shut,' rather 
confirmed that idea, in the first sudden impression 



80 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



it made upon their minds ; which mistake, in both 
cases, arose from their not attending sufficiently to 
the miraculous powers belon#incr to^Christ ; to the 
operations of which his being* in the body was no 
impediment. This inadvertency, and want of due 
considerations in the apostles and disciples, justifies 
our Saviour's 4 rebuking them for not believing them 
which had seen him.' But the doubts occasioned 
by it were soon overcome by those farther proofs of 
the reality of his body, which he afterwards vouch- 
safed to give them. And by this explanation, as 
well as by the former, the evangelists are cleared 
from contradicting each other. 

However, neither did these proofs entirely satisfy 
them ; for, as the history goes on, 'While "they yet 
believed not for joy, and wondered, Christ said unto 
them, Have ye any meat? And they gave him a 
piece of a broiled fish, and an honeycomb, and he 
took it and did eat before them. So much compas- 
sion did he show for their infirmity! and so much 
care did he take, that not even a shadow of a scruple 
should remain in their minds, upon a point of the 
utmost importance to the great business he came 
about! And perceiving now that every doubt was 
vanished, and they were perfectly convinced, he said 
to them (pursuing the argument begun by the angels, 
and carried on by himself with the two disciples in 
the way of Emmaus.) ' These are the words which I 
spake unto you, while I was yet with yon, that all 
things must be fulfilled, which were written in the 
law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms, 
concerning me. Then opened he their understand- 
ings, that they might understand the Scriptures, and 
said unto them, thus it is written, and thus it behoved 
Christ [that is, Messiah] to suffer, and to rise from 
the dead on the third day ; and that repentance and 
remissions of sins should be preached in his name, 
beginning at Jerusalem ; and ye are witnesses of 
these things.' 

The apostles having now had every kind of evi- 
dence laid before them, that was reo x uisite to con- 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



81 



vince them of the reality of the resurrection of 
Christ, and being moreover enabled by the gift of 
that Holy Spirit, which inspired the piophets to un- 
derstand the true meaning of those sacred oraclesj 
to which their Master constantly referred them for 
the marks and characters of the Messiah, which he 
affirmed to be found in him, as well in his sufferings 
and death, and rising again from the dead on the 
third day, as in the miraculous actions and unspotted 
holiness of his life, were again left to consider and 
examine at leisure the several proofs of the resur- 
rection, which they had heard and seen that day | 
and particularly those arising from the accomplish- 
ment of the predictions contained in the holy Scrip* 
tures. That they might apply themselves to this 
examination with that cool, deliberate, and sober 
attention, that is more especially necessary to the 
rooting out inveterate and religious prejudices, and 
planting in their stead a rational and well-grounded 
faith, such as is required of all those who believe in 
Christ, and was particularly necessary for them, 
who were to be witnesses of all these things to all 
the world, he forbore visiting them any more for 
eight days ; after which he condescended to submit 
himself to a farther examination, in order to remove 
the unreasonable scruples of St. Thomas, one of the 
apostles ; who, having not been present when our 
Saviour appeared to the other disciples, and conse- 
quently not having seen himself, refused to believe 
upon the report of others, so wonderful a thing as 
Christ's rising from the dead. Nay, he was resolved 
not to be convinced with seeing only. 'Except I 
shall see in his h mis,' says he, 'the print of the 
nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, 
and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. 
Jesus,' when he appeared to his disciples, 'showed 
them his hands and his feet,' as a proof of his being 
the same Jesus that was crucified. This circum- 
stance, among the rest, the apostles undoubtedly 
related to St. Thomas, as an evidence by which they 
were assured that it was their Master, whom they 



82 HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 

had seen ; and upon this evidence St. Thomas also 
was contented to believe. But first he would be 
convinced that it was real ; he would not only see 
the print of the nails, which might be counterfeited, 
he would * put his finger into the print of the nails, 
and thrust his hand into the side. Eight days after/ 
therefore, ' when his disciples were again met to- 
gether in a chamber, and Thomas was with them, 
Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the 
midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he 
to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my 
hands, and reach hither thy hand, and thrust , it into 
my side; and be not faithless, but believing.' What 
could St. Thomas do, but yield immediately to the 
evidence he had required ? And what could he say 
to one, who appeared to know all his thoughts, but 
4 My Lord, and my God! Jesus saith unto him, 
Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast be- 
lieved : Blessed are they that have not seen, and 
yet have believed.' 

After this there seems to have been no scruple 
left in the minds of any of the apostles, to whom, 
however, Christ was still pleased to continue his 
visits (Acts 1 :3,) 'being seen of them,' as Saint 
Luke testifies, 'forty days after his passion, and 
speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom 
of God.' But, as hitherto, all the appearances of 
Christ seem to have been intended only for the 
conviction of his apostles ; and those that follow 
rather for their confirmation and instruction in the 
faith and doctrines of the Gospel, the sacred wri- 
ters, who have been very particular in the accounts 
they give us of the former, have mentioned but 
very few of the latter. I say few- for I think it 
highly probable, that the appearances of Christ to 
his apostles for the remaining thirty days, were more 
than they have thought proper to record. And the 
reason of this different proceeding is very obvious* 
The apostles are to be considered both as witnesses 
of the miracles and the sufferings, the death and 
the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and 4 teachers and 



OP THE RESURRECTION. 83 



preachers' of his doctrine. In the character of 
witnesses, a circumstantial account of the means 
and opportunities they had of knowing certainly the 
several facts attested by them, must needs give great 
force and credit to their evidence ; whereas in that 
of preachers it is sufficient if their auditors were 
satisfied in general that the doctrines taught by them 
were derived from the instructions, and authorized 
by the commission given them by their Master 'to 
teach all nations;' and of this, the various gifts of 
the Holy Spirit, poured out, not upon the apostles 
only, but by them upon all believers, were full and 
unquestionable proofs. But among the last men* 
tioned appearances of Christ there are two, which, 
by reason of their connexion with the former, ought 
by no means to have been omitted. The first relates 
to Christ's meeting his disciples in Galilee, which 
was foretold by Christ himself before his death, re- 
peated by the angels to the women at the sepulchre, 
and afterwards confirmed to them again by Christ, 
The accomplishment of this prophecy it was cer- 
tainly necessary to show ; accordingly we have it in 
Matthew, who says, 6 Then the eleven disciples went 
into Galilee, unto a mountain, where Jesus had ap- 
pointed them, and when they saw him they wor- 
shipped him: but others doubted.' The second, in 
like manner, corresponds with what was spoken by 
our Saviour to Mary Magdalene in these words : 
' But go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend 
unto my Father and your Father, and to my God 
and your God ;' which words, as I have already ob- 
served, referred to a conversation he had with his 
disciples the night before he was betrayed, wherein 
he told them, First, That he should ' go to his Fa- 
ther.' Secondly, That he would come to them be- 
fore he went to his Father. Thirdly, That after he 
was gone to the Father, he would send them a com- 
forter, even the Spirit of truth, who would 'teach 
them all things, and bring all things to their remem- 
brance, whatsoever he had said unto them.' And, 
fourthly, That whosoever believed on him should 



84 HISTORY" AND EVIDENCES 

have the power of working" as great, nay greater 
miracles than he did. The fulfilling of which sev- 
eral promises or prophecies I shall now set down, 
only premising', th it the second article was abun- 
dantly accomplished by the several appearances 
above-mentioned, as we have already seen. The 
first, viz : his ascension into heaven, came to pass 
in this manner ( Acts 1:4 — 14} : 4 And being assem- 
bled together with them, he commanded them that 
they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for 
the promise of the father, which, saith he, ye have 
heard of me. For John truly baptized with water, 
but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not 
many days hence. When they therefore were come 
together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou 
at tiiis time restore the kingdom to Israel ? And 
he said unto them. It is not for you to know the times 
or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own 
power; but ye shall receive power, after that the 
Holy Ghost is come upon you ; and ye shall be wit- 
nesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, 
and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the 
earth. And when he had spoken these things, while 
they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received 
him out of their sight. And while they looked stead- 
fastly towards heaven, as he went up, behold two 
men stood by them in white apparel, which said 
unto them, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing 
up into heaven ? This same Jesus, which is taken 
up from you into heaven, shall so come, in like man- 
ner as ye have seen him go into heaven.' The his- 
tory of the accomplishment of the third article is in 
the next chapter, and in these words : — i And when 
the day of pentecost was fully come, they were all 
with one accord in one place ; and suddenly there 
came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty 
wind, and it filled all the house, where they were 
sitting: : And there appeared unto them cloven 
tongues, like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them, 
and they were filled wilh the Holy Ghost, and began 
to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



85 



utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem, 
Jew3, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. 
Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude 
came together and were confounded, because that 
every man heard them speak in their own language. 
And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying 
one to another, Behold, are not all these which 
speak Galileans ? and how hear we every man in 
our own tongue, wherein we were born ? Parthians 
and Modes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mes- 
opotamia, and in Judea, and in Cappadocia, in Pon- 
tus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, 
and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers 
of Rome, Jews and Proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, 
we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful 
works of God.' For a proof of the completion of the 
fourth article, I shall refer the reader to the history 
of the Acts of the Apostles, in which he will find 
numberless instances of the power of working mir- 
acles in the apostles ; 4 by whose hands,' (says that 
historian, 5:12,) were 'many signs and wonders 
wrought among the people, — insomuch that they 
brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them 
on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of 
Peter passing by might overshadow some of them. 
There came also a multitude out of the cities round 
about Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which 
were vexed with unclean spirits, and they were 
healed every one.' 

From this view of the method and order, in which 
the several proofs of the resurrection were laid be- 
fore the apostles, it is manifest, that, as Christ re- 
quired of them a reasonable and well-grounded faith, 
so did he pursue the most proper and effectual means 
for the attaining that end. With this purpose, in- 
stead of bearing down their reason, and dazzling 
their understanding by a full manifestation of himr 
self all at once, we see him letting in the light upon 
them by little and little, and preparing their minds 
by the 'gradual dawning of truth, that they might be 
able to bear the full lustre of the * Sun of Righte* 



86 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



ousness' rising from the grave ; to consider and ex- 
amine, and know that it was he himself, and to assure 
the world it was impossible they could be deceived. 
And as, by this proceeding in general, he intended 
to open their understanding by degrees, and conduct 
them step by step to a full conviction and knowledge 
of the truth ; so, by referring them to the Scriptures, 
and submitting himself to the scrutiny and judgment 
of their senses, he did not only wave all authority, 
but require them in a strong and particular manner 
to exercise their reason in examining the evidence 
brought before them ; for which purpose also he 
both improved their faculties by the infusion of his 
Holy Spirit, and gave them sufficient time, and fre- 
quent opportunities, 'showing himself to them alive 
after his passion, by many infallible proofs,' says the 
author of the Acts, 1 being seen of them forty days, 
and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom 
of God.' And most certainly never was evidence 
more fairly offered to consideration ; never was there 
inquiry put into a more rational method, as indeed 
there never were any facts that could better abide 
the test. This 1 shall now endeavour to evince, by 
considering the facts themselves, upon which the 
proof of the resurrection, and consequently the faith 
of the apostles, was established. 



SECTION XII. 

Different Appearances of Angels, and Appearances 
of Christ to the Women, and to his Disciples. 

The facts, of which the evidence of the resurrec- 
tion consisted, may be comprised under three heads. 
First, The appearances of the angels. Secondly, 
The appearances of Christ to the women. And, 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 87 



thirdly, The appearances of Christ to the disciples 
and apostles. 

First, The appearances of the angels at the sep- 
ulchre on the morning of the resurrection were many, 
each differing from the other, and seen by different 
persons; as, first, By the Roman soldiers, who kept 
the sepulchre. Secondly, By the other Mary and 
Salome. Thirdly, By Mary Magdalene. Fourthly, 
By Joanna, and those with her. 

The angel, who appeared to the Roman soldiers, 
was clothed with terror, * his face was like lightning, 
and his raiment white as snow.' His coming was 
attended with an earthquake, and his strength so 
much beyond that of mortals, that he singly rolled 
away the stone from the mouth of the sepulchre ; 
which, according to Beza's copies, both Greek and 
Latin, was so large that twenty men could hardly 
roll it. I have already taken notice of the two pur- 
poses upon which this angel of the Lord descended 
from heaven, viz : to fright away the soldiers, and 
to open the sepulchre, that the women, who were 
then on their way thither, and the others, both wo- 
men and disciples, and Jews, who were to come 
thither that day, might have free entrance into it, 
and see that the body of Jesus was not there. The 
reasonableness of these two purposes, I think, every 
body must acknowledge ; and that is a very material 
point towards establishing the credibility of the fact, 
especially if we consider, that, without the interpo- 
sition of Heaven, the sepulchre would probably not 
have been opened, nor the guard removed, till after 
the expiration of the third day, the day prefixed by 
Christ for his rising from the dead ; in which case, 
though no earthly power could have hindered Christ, 
who is the power of God, from coming out of the 
grave, yet the door of the sepulchre remaining closed, 
and the guard continuing there, must effectually 
have prevented that examination into the state of 
the sepulchre, which convinced St. John that Christ 
was risen ; and which, if it did not of itself amount 
to a clear proof of the resurrection, was, at least, 



88 HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



admirably calculated to prepare the minds, not of 
the apostles only, but of all the Jews who were at 
that time in Jerusalem, to admit such other proofs, 
as were afterwards offered to their consideration. 
For it is not to be imagined, that none but the dis- 
ciples of Jesus visited the sepulchre that day. The 
story told by the soldiers undoubtedly soon spread 
all over Jerusalem ; and bare curiosity, without any 
other motive, was surely sufficient to carry numbers 
to survey the scene of so astonishing an event. A 
sepulchre, hewed out of a rock, closed with a vast 
stone, and that stone but the evening before sealed 
up by the high priests and elders, and committed to 
a guard of Roman soldiers ; this sepulchre, notwith- 
standing all these precautions, opened, as one part 
of the soldiers reported by an angel from heaven, 
or, as others said, by the disciples of Jesus ; who, 
as was pretended, 'came by night, and while the 
guard slept, stole away the body of Jesus,' which, 
in effect, was missing. These two different and 
irreconcileable reports must have likewise induced 
others to go, and consider upon the spot, by exam- 
ining into the nature and situation of the sepulchre, 
the probability of that report, which charged the dis- 
ciples with having stolen a w<iy the body of .lesus ; for 
as, upon thnt supposition, none but human means are 
said to have been employed, in order to know whether 
those means were proportioned to the effects ascrib- 
ed to them, it was necessary to compare what was 
done, with the manner in which it was pretended to 
be performed. And, upon such an examination, I 
think, it must have appeared to every considerate 
man, if not impossible, at least improbable in the 
highest degree for the disciples of Jesus to have 
stolen away his body, while the guards were at their 
post. For, supposing the disciples to be the reverse 
of what they were, bold, enterprising, cunning im- 
postors, and capable of making so hazardous an 
attempt ; can it also be supposed, that a company of 
Roman soldiers, trained up under the strictest disci- 
pline, and placed there but the evening before, 



OP THE RESURRECTION. 



89 



should be all asleep at the same time, and sleep so 
soundly and so long", as not to be awakened, either 
by rolling away the stone (which, as it singly closed 
up the mouth of the sepulchre, must certainly have 
been very large,) or by the carrying off the body ? 
The former of which required a great number of 
hands, and the latter must have appeared to have 
been done with some deliberation, since the linen 
clothes, in which the body was wrapped, and the 
napkin that was wound about the head, were folded 
up, and laid in different parts of the sepulchre. The 
sepulchre was hewed or hollowed into the solid rock ; 
so that they could have no thought of making a se- 
cret passage into it, by digging through the rock; 
and consequently must have gone in by that only 
entrance, which was closed up by a great stone, and 
guarded by a band of Roman soldiers. These sev- 
eral circumstances, duly attended to, were of them- 
selves sufficient to invalidate the testimony of those 
soldiers, who pretended that the disciples stole away 
their Master's body while they were asleep. But 
they were on the other hand very strong arguments 
for the credibility of that account, in which all the 
soldiers at first agreed, and which part of them un- 
doubtedly had published, before the other story was 
put into their mouths by the chief priests and elders. 
For in this relation a cause is assigned proportiona- 
ble to all the effects ; effects, which, as they were 
visible and notorious, as well as extraordinary, could 
not fail of exciting the natural curiosity of mankind 
to inquire, by what means they were brought about. 
The solution is easy and full. 'An angel of the 
Lord descended from heaven, rolled away the stone 
from the mouth of the sepulchre, and sat upon it: 
his^ countenance was like lightning;-, and his raiment 
white as snow.' This accounts for the terror of the 
soldiers, their deserting their post, their precipitate 
flight into the city ; for the stone's being rolled 
away from the month of the sepulchre, even while 
it was surrounded by a Roman guard ; for the se- 
pulchral linen being left in the grave, folded up, and 



HISTORY AND 



EVIDENCES 



lying in different places ; and for the body's being 
missing; and therefore the cause here assigned, 
however wonderful, is most likely to be true. 

Nor could the miracle be an objection to the cred- 
ibility of this account among the Jews ; who, upon 
the authority of their lawgiver, their prophets, and 
their historians, were accustomed to think the work- 
ing miracles very consistent with the idea of God, 
the All-mighty and All-wise Creator of heaven and 
earth ; though some modern philosophers have pre- 
tended to discover from reason, that 'miracles are 
to the common sense and understanding of man 
utterly impossible, and contrary to the unchangea- 
bleness of God.' This point, indeed, if it could be 
made out (as most certainly it cannot,) would of 
itself be a sufficient answer to all the arguments, 
that can be brought in support of the credibility, not 
of this story only, but of all the evangelical history, 
and the Jewish religion also; and would supersede 
all other objections to them, as needless and super- 
fluous. Let those then, who, upon the force of this 
speculation deny Christianity, here try their strength. 
Let them prove that miracles are utterly impossible, 
&c. ; or, till they do, let them give leave to those, 
who are of a contrary opinion, to insist, that, in the 
present case, the miracle can be no objection to the 
credibility of the fact; and that, as I have said, it 
could huve been none among the Jews in particular ; 
who, from their infancy had heard, and read, and 
believed the k mighty signs and wonders wrought 
by God for his people Israel ;' had expected to find 
in the Messiah a power of working miracles ; and 
had evidence of many performed among them by- 
Jesus and his disciples. And indeed the appear- 
ance of an angel, upon this occasion, so far from be- 
ing an objection, was highly proper, I had almost said 
necessary. Jesus had, but two days before, been 
put to death by the rulers of the Jews, as an impos- 
tor; one, who by the authority of Beelzebub cast 
out devils, and by assuming the character of the 
Messiah blasphemed God. His sepulchre also was 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



91 



guarded by a band of soldiers, under the pretence 
of preventing his disciples from carrying on the im^ 
posture begun by their Master, by stealing away his 
body, and giving out that he was risen from the 
dead, in consequence of what he had said before his 
crucifixion. Under these circumstances the attest 
tation of heaven was necessary to show, that God, 
though he had suffered him to expire on the cross, 
had not forsaken him ; but, on the contrary, had 
co-operated with him even in his sufferings, his 
death, and burial, and resurrection from the dead on 
the third day ; having, by the secret workings of his 
providence and his almighty power, accomplished in 
every point the several predictions of Jesus relating 
to each of those events. Events, which, at the time 
of those predictions, none but God, or an eye en- 
lightened by his omniscient Spirit, could foresee ; 
and which nothing less than his all-controlling power 
could bring about. The descent, therefore, of 
* the angel of the Lord' from heaven, and his ' rolling 
away the stone' from the sepulchre, was a visible 
proof, that the finger of God was in the great work 
of the resurrection, was a proper honour done to 
him, who claimed to be the Son of God, and unan* 
swerably refuted the impious calumnies of those, 
who, upon account of that clajm, styled him an im- 
postor and blasphemer ? 



SECTION XIII. 
Reality of the Angelic Appearances. 

What has been just said of the propriety and 
necessity of an angel's descending from heaven, 
upon the present occasion, is applicable in general 
to the several appearances of angels seen by the 



92 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



women, which I shall examine in the next place, 
taking it for granted, that the miraculousness of 
such appearances will be no longer urged as an ar- 
gument against their possibility. The only thing 
then remaining to be considered in this examination 
is the internal evidence, which these several visions 
carry along with them of reality and truth ; for by 
some they have been treated as pure illusions, and 
by others as downright falsehoods. The principal 
argument made use of to prove their falsehood is 
founded upon a supposed contradiction and incon- 
sistency in the several accounts given of them by 
the evangelists; which argument having been thor- 
oughly discussed in the foregoing part of this dis- 
course, I must refer the reader thither for an answer 
to it. That these appearances were illusions, the 
effects of superstition, ignorance, and fear, hath 
been insinuated rather than asserted ; but hath nev- 
er, that 1 know of, been attempted to be proved. I 
shall not, therefore, amuse myself with a vain search 
after arguments, which I presume, are not easy to 
be found ; or they would have been produced by 
those, who have laboured with so much diligence to 
expose and ridicule the faith of Christians ; but 
leaving such to make good their assertion, who shall 
think fit to maintain it, I shall proceed to lay down 
a few observations, tending to prove the reality and 
truth of these appearances of the angels to the wo- 
men. 

The angel first seen by the women was that de- 
scribed by St. Mark, in the form of a 6 young man, 
sitting' (within the sepulchre) 'on the right side, 
clothed in a long white garment,' at the sight of 
whom the women [Mary and Salome] discovering 
great signs of fear, he saith unto them, ' Be not af- 
frighted ; ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was 
crucified ; he is risen ; he is not here. Behold the 
place where they laid him. But go your way, tell 
his disciples and Peter, that he goeth before you 
into Galilee; there shall ye see him, as he said unto 
you.' That this was a real vision, and no phantom 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



93 



of the imagination, is evident from these particulars. 
First, As it does not appear from this or any other 
account, that the women, upon their coming to the 
sepulchre, were under any such terrors or perturba- 
tion of mind, as are apt to fill the fancy with spectres 
and apparitions. On the contrary, they went thither 
a little" after daybreak, prepared, and expecting- to 
find the dead body of Jesus there, and purposing to 
embalm it; about the doing of which they had been 
calmly conferring by the way. So, secondly, By 
their coming with a design to embalm the body, it is 
plain they had no notion either of his being already 
risen, or that he would rise from the dead ; and 
therefore, Thirdly, Had the angel been only the 
creature of a disturbed imagination, they would 
scarcely have put into his mouth a speech, that di- 
rectly contradicted all the ideas, upon which they 
proceeded but one moment before. Fourthly, It is 
to be observed farther, that the illusion must have 
been double ; two senses must have been deceived, 
the hearing and the sight; for the angel was heard 
as well as seen ; and though this frequently happens 
in dreams, and sometimes, perhaps, in a delirium, or 
a fit of madness, yet I question whether an instance 
exactly parallel, in all its parts, to the case here 
supposed, was ever known ; for no two people dream 
together exactly alike, nor are affected in a delirium 
with exactly the same imaginations. Fifthly, The 
words spoken by the angel refer to others spoken 
by Christ to his disciples before his passion, in which 
he told them, that after 4 he was risen, he would go 
before them into Galilee.' This promise or predic- 
tion the angel here reminds them of, bids them tell 
the disciples from him to go into Galilee, and prom- 
ises them that Christ will meet them there. Now, 
as not only the resurrection, but the personal ap- 
pearance of Christ also, is implied in these words, 
the reason given above under the third particular 
concludes in the present case more strongly against 
supposing them to have proceeded only from the 
imagination of the women ; for the sudden change 



94 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



of whose opinion, from a disbelief of the resurrection 
into a full and explicit belief of it, no adequate cause 
can be assigned. For if it should be allowed, that 
they knew of this prediction of Christ's (which, how- 
ever, does not appear,) yet the business that brought 
them to the sepulchre makes it evident, that till that 
instant they did either not recollect, nor understand, 
or not believe it. And, if it be farther said, that 
upon their entering into the sepulchre, and not find- 
ing the body of Jesus, this prediction might naturally 
come at once into their heads, and they might as 
suddenly, and as reasonably believe Christ to be 
risen, as St. John did, whose faith was built upon no 
other evidence than what these women had now 
before them ; I answer, that allowing St. John, when 
he is said to have first believed the resurrection, had 
no other evidence than these women now had, or 
might have had, yet it is to be observed, that St. 
John was in a fitter disposition of mind to reflect 
and judge upon that evidence, than the women. 
St. John ran to the sepulchre, upon the information 

fiven him by Mary Magdalene, that the body of 
esus was removed from thence, and laid she knew 
not where, nor by whom. And, as the sepulchre 
was at some distance from his habitation, many 
thoughts must naturally have arisen in his mind, 
tending to account for the removal of the body ; and, 
among the rest, perhaps, some confused and obscure 
hope, that he might be risen from the dead, pursuant 
to many predictions to that purpose delivered by 
him to his disciples. But whatever his thoughts 
were at the time of his coming to the sepulchre, 
about which it must be owned nothing can be offer- 
ed but mere conjecture ; it is certain he had leisure 
to reflect upon the predictions of his Master, and to 
examine into the state of the sepulchre, which both 
he and Peter did (and that implies some deliberation 
and presence of mind ;) and that after this deliberate 
examination he departed quietly to his own home. 
Whereas the women are represented as falling into 
the utmost terror and amazement immediately upon 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



95 



their entering into the sepulchre ; and continuing 
under the same consternation till they were met 
flying from thence by Christ himself. Under such 
a disorder of mind, can we suppose them capable of 
recollecting the predictions of Christ about his res- 
urrection ? considering the proofs of their accom- 
plishment arising from the state of the sepulchre ? 
and persuading themselves at once, that he was not 
only risen from the dead, but would personally ap- 
pear to his disciples ? And then immediately upon 
this conviction fancying they saw an angel, and 
heard him assure them in a distinct manner that 
Christ was risen ; call them to view the place where 
he had been laid, and bid them tell his disciples that 
he would meet them in Galilee ? In a word, if this 
supposed illusion proceeded from a strong persua- 
sion that Christ was risen from the dead, whence 
arose that belief? If that belief arose from a cool 
reflection upon the predictions of our Saviour, and 
the state of the sepulchre (the cause of St. John's 
faith,) whence came their terror ? which, if not pre- 
vious to the apparition of the angel, was at least 
prior to the words, 'Be not affrighted,' with which 
he first accosted them. If it be urged, that this ter- 
ror was of the nature of those causeless and unac- 
countable terrors called panics, it may be answered, 
that this is giving us a name instead of a reason, 
and is, in effect, saying just nothing at all, or saying 
no more than that they were affrighted, but nobody 
can tell why or wherefore. Sixthly, It is observable, 
that the speech of the angel to the women consists 
often distinct particulars : — As, 1. 4 Be not affright- 
ed.' 2 ' Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was cru- 
cified.' 3. 'He is risen.' 4. 'He is not here.' 5. 
'Behold the place where they laid him.' 6. 'But 
go yonr way, tell his disciples,' 7. 'And Peter,' 8. 
' That he goeth before you into Galilee.' 9. ' There 
shall ye see him,' 10. 'As he said unto you.' The 
order and connexion of which several particulars 
are no less remarkable than their number; and, 
therefore, taking both these considerations into the 



96 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



account, I leave any one to judge whether it be 
conceivable, that women under so great a terror and 
distraction of mind, as to fancy they saw and heard 
an angel when there was no such thing, should be 
able to compose a speech for this phantom of their 
fear and imagination, containing so much matter, 
order, and reason, and proceeding upon the supposi- 
tion that they were not then convinced that Christ 
was risen from the dead, though the belief of his 
resurrection is presumed not only to have preceded, 
but even to have occasioned this illusion. 

I have dwelt the longer upon the examination of 
this first appearance of the angel to the women, be- 
cause the settling the nature of that will save us the 
trouble of entering into a particular discussion of 
the rest ; the several articles of which will fall under 
one or other of the foregoing observations. All I 
shall do therefore is, to note the different circum- 
stances observable in each of them, and from thence 
endeavour to raise another argument for the truth 
and reality of all. 

The vision, we have just now considered, was of 
one angel ; that seen by Mary Magdalene was of 
two ; as was likewise that reported by Joanna and 
those with her. And whereas the first angel was 
found by the women upon their entering into the 
sepulchre, sitting on the right side, the two last- 
mentioned appearances were abrupt and sudden. 
For the angels, which Mary Magdalene discovered 
sitting, one at the head, and the other at the feet, 
where the body of Jesus had been laid, were not 
seen by Peter and John, who just before had entered 
into the sepulchre, and viewed every part of it with 
great attention ; and Joanna, and those with her, 
had been some time in the sepulchre before they 
saw any angels: which angels seem also to have 
appeared to them in a different attitude from those 
seen by Mary Magdalene, and by the other Mary 
and Salome. As the number of the angels, and the 
manner of their appearance was different, so likewise 
were the words spoken to them by the women, and 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 97 



the behaviour of the women upon those several oc- 
casions ; Mary and Salome were seized with fear, 
and fled from the sepulchre in the utmost terror 
and amazement. Joanna, and those with her, were 
struck with awe and reverence, and bowed down 
their faces to the earth ; but Mary Magdalene seems 
to have been so immersed in grief at not being able 
to find the body of the Lord, as to have taken little 
or no notice of so extraordinary an appearance ; she 
sees, hears, and answers the angels without any 
emotion, and without quitting the object upon which 
her mind was wholly fixed, till she was awakened 
out of her trance by the well-known voice of her 
Master calling her by her name. But here let us 
stop a little, and ask a question or two. Could this 
appearance then be an illusion ? Could a mind so 
occupied, so lost in one idea, attend at the same 
time to the production of so many others of a differ- 
ent kind? Or could her imagination be strong 
enough to see and converse with angels, and yet 
too weak to make any impression on her, or call off 
her attention from a less affecting, less surprising 
subject? Real angels indeed she may be supposed 
to have seen and heard, and not to have regarded 
them ; but apparitions raised by her own fancy could 
not have failed engaging her notice. For although, 
when we are awake, we cannot avoid perceiving the 
ideas excited in us by the organs of sensation, yet 
is it, in most instances, in our power to give to them 
what degree of attention we think fit ; and hence it 
comes to pass, that when we are earnestly employed 
in any action, intent upon any thought, or transported 
by any passion, we see, and hear, and feel a thou- 
sand things, of which we take no more notice, than 
if we were utterly insensible of them, as every one's 
daily experience can testify ; but to the ideas not 
proceeding- immediately from sensation, but formed 
within us by the internal operation of our minds, we 
cannot but attend ; because in their own nature 
they can exist no longer than while we attend to 
them. Of this kind are all the phantoms that haunt 



98 HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



our sleeping or waking dreams : for so all ecstasies, 
deliriums, and the ravings of madness, may not im- 
properly be called ; and whatever may be the phys- 
ical cause, that upon these occasions sets the mind 
to work, and influences her imagination, she is cer- 
tainly more than passive in these productions, and 
is generally so attentive to them, as to disregard, 
during her transports, all the importunities of exter- 
nal objects ; or to blend and colour with the prevail- 
ing idea all those arising from the informations of 
the senses. From all which it is evident, that the 
mind cannot apply herself to the contemplation of 
more than one object at a time ; which, as long as 
it keeps possession, excludes or obscures all others. 
Mary Magdalene, therefore, having taken it strongly 
into her head, upon seeing the stone rolled away 
from the mouth of the sepulchre, that some persons 
had removed the body of the Lord, in which notion 
she was still more confirmed after her return to the 
sepulchre with Peter and John, and grieving at be- 
ing thus disappointed of paying her last duty to her 
deceased Master, whose body, as Peter his most 
zealous, and John his most beloved disciple, knew 
nothing of the removal of it, she might imagine was 
got into the hands of his enemies, to be exposed 
perhaps once more to fresh insults and indigni- 
ties, or at least to be deprived of the pious offices, 
which the duty and affection of his followers and 
disciples were preparing to perform ; Mary Magda- 
lene, I say, falling into a passion of grief at this un- 
expected distress, and abandoning herself to all the 
melancholy reflections that must naturally arise from 
it, with her eyes suffused with tears, and thence 
discerning more imperfectly, looking as it were by 
accident, and while she was thinking on other mat- 
ters, into the sepulchre, and seeing angels, might, 
according to the reasoning above laid down, give 
but littleheed to them ; as not perceiving on a sud- 
den, and under so great a cloud of sorrow, the tokens 
of any thing extraordinary in that appearance. She 
might take them perhaps for two young men, which 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



99 



was the form assumed by those who appeared to the 
other women, without reflecting at first that it was 
impossible they should have been in the sepulchre 
without being seen by John and Peter, and improb- 
able that they should have entered into it after their 
departure, without having been observed by her. 
Intent upon what passed within her own bosom, she 
did not give herself time to consider and examine 
external objects, and therefore knew not even Christ 
himself, who appeared to her in the same sudden 
and miraculous manner ; but, 4 supposing him to be 
the gardener,' begged him to tell her, if he had re- 
moved the body, where he had laid it, that she might 
take it away, by which question, and the answer she 
had made to the angels immediately before, we may 
perceive what her thoughts were so earnestly em- 
ployed about ; and thence conclude still farther, 
that the angels were not the creatures of her imag- 
ination, since they were plainly not the objects of 
her attention. The appearance therefore of the an- 
gels was real. But to return from this digression. 

If the several appearances of the angels, examined 
separately, may be shown to carry with them evident 
marks of reality and truth, the considering and com- 
paring them together will set that point in a yet 
stronger light; such, we presume, as will entirely 
clear up every doubt in the minds of those, who seem 
inclined to believe any thing possible, but that the 
Gospel should be true. For both the number, the 
manner, the variety, and nature of the circumstances 
of these visions, and their being seen by different 
persons at different times, make it, according to the 
natural course of things, utterly incredible that there 
should have been in them either illusion or impos- 
ture. Many instances perhaps of illusions in single 
persons, and even in numbers (for nothing is more 
contagious than superstition and enthusiasm,) may 
be produced ; how well authenticated, it will be time 
enough to inquire when we know what they are. 
But I believe it will be generally found, upon a strict 
examination, that whenever any number of people 



100 HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



have fallen into such an illusion, as by the force of 
imagination only to hear and see spectres and ap- 
paritions, the imagination or artifice of some one 
among them hath given birth to the phantom ; and, 
working upon minds already disposed by supersti- 
tion, enthusiasm, or credulity, or cunningly prepared 
perhaps for that particular occasion, hath led them 
easily to see and hear things that existed only in 
their own prepossessed and over-heated fancies. 
But nothing of all this can be pretended in the pres- 
ent case. The women, by whom these different vis- 
ions of angels were severally seen, had no commu- 
nication with each other during the time of these ap- 
pearances, as is evident from the whole tenor of this 
history: Mary and Salome were fled from the sepul- 
chre before Mary Magdalene returned ; and Mary 
Magdalene was departed from thence again, before 
Joanna, and'those with her, came thither, so that they 
could not catch the illusion from one another ; and 
that their minds, at the time of their coming to the 
sepulchre, were very far from being disposed to form 
imaginations of Christ's being risen from the dead, 
is evident from the business that carried them thither. 
They came to perform the last offices usually paid 
to the dead, and, by embalming the body, to complete 
the interment of their deceased Master; which, by 
the coming on of the sabbath, they had been obliged 
to leave unfinished ; and when, upon entering into 
the sepulchre, they found not the body, it was more 
natural for them to think, with Mary Magdalene, 
that some persons had taken it away, and laid it they 
knew not where, than to conclude it was risen from 
the dead ; and it is plain that Joanna, and * those 
with her,' were in this way of thinking; for 'when 
they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord 
Jesus, they,' says St. Luke, 'were much perplexed 
thereabout ;' i. e. they knew not what was become 
of the body, could not account for its being missing, 
and were therefore in great distress and anxiety 
about it, which would not have happened had they 
believed that he had risen from the dead. 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



lot 



If, from what has been said, it may seem reasona- 
ble to conclude, that the appearances of the angels 
were not the effects of illusion, the phantoms of a 
distempered visionary mind, it will, I think, be more 
easily granted, that they were not the operations of 
artifice and imposture. For, without examining who 
could be the actors, or what the motives of an im- 
posture of this kind, there are evidences enough, 
arising from the circumstances of these several ap- 
pearances, to show, that the powers that produced 
them were more than human. Such, for example, 
is the earthquake occasioned by the descent of the 
first angel, the amazing brightness of his counten- 
ance, which, St. Matthew tells us, 4 was like light- 
ning,' and the prodigious strength, which appeared 
in his singly rolling away a stone, that was large 
enough to close up the entrance into the sepulchre; 
and, what was common to all the angels, the faculty 
of becoming visible or invisible as they thought 
proper. These, certainly, were characteristical 
marks of an agent endowed with privileges and 
powers superior to the limited abilities of man, whose 
operations cannot go farther than his knowledge of 
the laws and powers of nature ; and how far short 
of such wonderful effects as these that knowledge 
would carry him, I leave the most ingenious profes- 
sor of natural magic to determine. 



9 



102 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



SECTION XIV. 

Two appearances of Christ to the Women after his 
Resurrection. 

I come now, in the second place, to consider the 
appearances of Christ himself to the women, which 
were two ; the first to Mary Magdalene, the second 
to the other Mary and Salome. But I shall not have 
occasion to dwell long upon this head, since the ap* 
pearances of the angels having been proved to be 
real, put these appearances of Christ more out of 
doubt and suspicion. The angels affirmed that he 
was ' risen' from the dead ; and if he was risen, it 
was natural to expect he would appear. The main 
difficulty consisted in his getting loose from the 
bands of death, and breaking the prison of the grave ; 
and therefore, whoever upon the testimony of the 
angels believed the resurrection (as all those must 
have done who acknowledged them to be real an- 
gels,) would not, if they saw Christ himself, be very 
apt to call in question the reality of his appearance. 
But though the testimony of angels, affirming that 
Christ was risen from the dead, renders his appear- 
ing afterwards less liable to doubt and question: 
yet, before we admit the reality of every such ap- 
pearance as may be pretended, I grant it is reason- 
able to expect some farther proofs, though perhaps 
not so many or so strong as if no such previous evi- 
dence had been given. And in the case of Mary 
and Salome it may be suggested, that their very 
belief of the resurrection of Christ, joined to the 
disorder and amazement they were then under, 
might help to convince them too easily of the reality 
of his appearance, though at the same time it might 
be nothing but a spectre of their imagination, and a 
mere illusion : let us therefore examine what evi- 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



103 



dence may be collected from the account given of 
this appearance, to induce us to think that these 
women were not deceived ; and the evidence, I be- 
lieve, will be found sufficient. They had the attes- 
tation of their sight, their hearing-, and their feeling : 
by the two first the voice and countenance of their 
Lord might be known, and by the last they might 
be assured, that it was no spectre which they heard 
and saw, but a body consisting of flesh and bones. 
One of these proofs indeed was wanting to Mary 
Magdalene, Christ forbade her to touch him ; and 
yet, any one, who considers with due attention the 
circumstances of this appearance, will find sufficient 
reason to be persuaded that it was Christ himself 
who appeared to her. For, first, he had stood by 
her some time, had spoken to her, and she had an- 
swered him, before she knew him to be Christ: on 
the contrary, she took him for the gardener: by all 
which it is manifest, that the spectre, if it was one, 
-was not of her creating. Her- mind was otherwise 
engaged ;* and had it been either at leisure, or dis- 
posed to raise apparitions, it is most likely she would 
have called up some person, with whom she had 
more acquaintance and concern than a keeper of a 
garden, whom probably she had never known nor 
seen before. 2dly, He called her by her name, by 
which, as it appeared that he knew her, so did she, 
it seems, discover him ; for turning immediately 
about, she accosted him with the respectful title of 
Rabboni, my master; and, as may be inferred from 
the ensuing'words of Christ, offered to embrace him. 
His voice and his countenance convinced her that 
it was Christ himself. 3dly, In these words, 4 Touch 
me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father ; 
but ffo to my brethren, and say to them, I ascend to 
my Father and your Father, to my God and your 
God,' is contained a most clear proof, that it was 
Christ himself who uttered them. To understand 
this, it must be remembered, that these words alludo 



* Sea th© preceding aiticle, 



104 HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



to a long discourse which our Saviour held to his 
disciples the very night in which he was betrayed 
(John 14, 15, and 16); wherein he told, them, that 
he should leave them for a short time, 4 a little while 
and ye shall not see me,' and that he would come to 
them again, though but for a short time, 'and again 
a little while, and ye shall see me, because,' added 
he, 4 1 go to my Father.' By the phrase 4 1 go to my 
Father,' Christ meant his final quitting the world, as 
he himself explained it to his disciples, who did not 
then understand either of the above-cited expres- 
sions. John 16:23, 4 1 came forth from the Father,' 
says he, 4 and am come into the world : again, I leave 
the world and go to the Father.' But lest they 
should fall into despair at being thus forsaken by 
him, for whom they had forsaken all the world, he 
at the same time promised to send them a comforter, 
even the Holy Spirit, who should (Ibid. 14:26) 
4 teach them all things, bring to their minds whatso- 
ever he had said unto them ; should guide them into 
all truth (16 : 13,) show them things to come, and 
abide with them forever;' and that 4 whoever believed 
in him should be able to do greater works,' that is, 
miracles, 4 than he did, because he was to go to the 
Father ;' and that, finally, though they for a sea- 
son should be sorrowful, yet should (16:20,22) 
4 their sorrow be turned into joy, and that joy 
should no man take from them.' These were 
magnificent promises ; promises, which, as the dis- 
ciples could not but remember Christ had made to 
them, so they might be assured that no one but 
Christ was able to make them good ; and therefore, 
when they came to reflect seriously upon the import 
of these words, 4 Touch me not, for I am not yet as- 
cended to my Father; but go to my brethren, and 
say to them, I ascend to my Father and your Father, 
to my God and your God,' it was impossible for them 
to conclude otherwise than that it was Christ him- 
self who appeared and spoke to Mary Magdalene. 
For as the latter expression, 4 1 ascend to my Fa- 
ther/ &c, ? implied a remembrance, and consequently 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 105 



a renewal of those promises, which were to take 
place after his ascension to the Father ; so did the 
former, 4 1 am not ascended to the Father,' give them 
encouragement to expect the performance of that 
other promise of his coming to them again before 
his ascension, by giving them to understand, that 
he had not yet quitted this world. And I take 
Christ's forbidding Mary Magdalene to touch (or 
embrace) him, to have been meant as a signification 
of his intending to see her and his disciples again ; 
just as in ordinary life, when one friend says to an^ 
other, * Don*t take leave, for I am not going yet,' he 
means to let him know that he purposes to see him 
again before he sets out upon his journey. That 
this is the true import of the words, ' Touch me not,' 
is, in my opinion, evident, not only from the reason 
subjoined in the words immediately following, 4 for 
I am not yet ascended to my Father, 5 by which ex- 
pression, as 1 have shown above, Christ meant he 
had not finally quitted the world ; but from these 
farther considerations: Christ, by showing himself 
first -to Mary Magdalene, intended, doubtless, to 
give her a distinguishing mark of his favour, and 
therefore cannot reasonably be supposed to have 
designed at the same time to have put a slight upon 
her, by refusing her a pleasure which he granted 
not long after to the other Mary and Salome ; and 
yet this must be supposed, if 4 Touch me not' be 
understood to imply a prohibition to Mary Magdalene 
to embrace him, for any reason consistent with the 
regard shown to the other women, and different from 
that now contended for, namely, because he intended 
to see her and his disciples again. On the contrary, 
if these words be taken to signify only a put-off to 
some fitter opportunity, they will be so far from im- 
porting any unkindness or reprehension to Mary 
Magdalene, that they may rather be looked upon as 
a gracious assurance, a kind of friendly engagement 
to come to her again ; and in this sense they cor- 
respond exactly with Christ's purpose in sending 
this message by her to his disciples ; which, as I 



106 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



have observed before, was to let them know that he 
remembered his promise of coming to them again, 
and was still in a condition to perform it, not having 
quitted this world ; snd of his intention to perforin 
it. this his refusing to admit the affectionate or rev- 
erential embraces of Mary Magdalene, c who loved 
much, for much had been forgiven to her,' was an 
earnest, as his coming to them again would be a 
pledge of his resolution to acquit himself in due time 
of all those promises, which were not to take effect 
till after his final departure out of this world. And 
thus will this whole discourse of our Saviour to Mary 
Magdalene be in all its parts intelligible, rational* 
and coherent; whereas, if it be supposed that Mary- 
Magdalene was forbidden to touch Christ for some 
mystical reason, contained in the words, 'fori am 
not yet ascended to the Father,' it will be very diffi- 
cult'to understand either the meaning or intent of 
that message, which she was commanded to carry 
to the disciples ; and still more difficult to account 
for his suffering, not long after, the embraces of the 
other Mary and Salome. To the same, or even 
greater difficulties, will that interpretation of this 
passage be liable, which supposes, that the prohibi- 
tion to Mary Magdalene was grounded upon the 
spiritual nature of Christ's body, which, it is- presum- 
ed, was not sensible to the touch or feeling, And, 
indeed, both these reasons for the behaviour of 
Christ to Mary Magdalene are overturned by his 
contrary behaviour to the other Mary and Salome, 
But if the sense I contend for be admitted, it will be- 
no difficult matter to account for this difference of 
his behaviour on these two occasions. Why he for- 
bade Mary Magdalene to touch him, has already 
been explained ; why he permitted the other Mary 
and Salome 4 to hold him by the feet and worship 
him,' I shall now endeavour to show. These last- 
mentioned women, as (chap, ult.) St, Mark informs 
us, were so terrified and amazed at the sight and 
words of the angel who appeared to them in the 
sepulchre,, that, although they (Matt. 28*8) ran with. 



OP THE RESURRECTION. 107 



a design to tell the disciples what they had heard 
and seen, as the angel had commanded them, yet, 
through their confusion and disorder, they had ne- 
glected to deliver this important message to* some 
whom they saw in their way; for so, with all the 
, commentators, 1 understand these words of St. Mark, 

* That these words, < neither said they any thing to any man, 5 
must be limited to some certain time, will, 1 believe, be readily af* 
lowed ; for it cannot he imagined, that after all the other appearan- 
ces of the angels were published, these women only never opened 
their lips 'to any man' about what they had seen and heard at 
the sepulchre. The question then will be, how long they may 
he supposed to have forborne speaking of itl And this, I think, 
was no longer than during the time of their flying from the sepul- 
chre, and till they were met by Christ himself; because the only 
reason here assigned for their 'not saying any thing to any man, 7 
viz: ' for they were afraid' (or affrighted rather,) being removed 
by Christ's appearing to them, fee., it is reasonable to believe (if 
it is not implied) that their silence lasted no longer than the only 
cause of it, their terror. Besides, as St. Mark breaks off the rmr» 
ration of what happened to these women very abruptly, short of 
Christ's appearing to them, in order to relate his appearance to 
Mary Magdalene, which indeed was previous to it, though subse- 
quent to the appearance of the angel seen by these women at the 
sepulchre, What he says of their 'not saying any thing to any 
man,' cannot be taken to extend beyond the period where he 
chose to break off his narration, without supposing him guilty of 
a needless impropriety. And if these words, 'neither said any 
thing to any man,' be construed to signify that they did not tell 
what they had seen and heard to some, whom they saw as they 
were fly ing from the sepulchre, it seems rational to conclude, that 
these were some of the disciples, to whom they were ordered to 
deliver the message of the angel, and to whom they would prop- 
ab!y have delivered it, had they not been under so great a terror 
and amazement. For had the persons, whom they saw, been 
any ot her than the disciples of Jesus, it is not likely that St. Mark 
would have taken any notice of their 'not saying any thing to 
any man,' since it is reasonable to imagine they would not, even 
though they had not been affrighted, have told the message of the 
angel, &c, to any but the disciples. And as the time of Peter 
and John's running to the sepulchre, upon the first report of Mary 
Magdalene, coincides with that of these women flying from it, it 
is no improbable conjecture, that these were the persons whom 
they saw in their way, at a distance perhaps, and coming by a 
different road to the sepulchre ; especially if it be considered, that 
as the words of St. Mark, ' neither said they,' &c, seem to carry 
with them an imputation of neglect upon the women, though he at 
the same time both accounts for it, and excuses it, by adding, ' for 
they were affrighted ;' so the same evangelist hath before ac- 
quainted us (ver. 7,) that they were ordered by the angel to de- 
liver the message he gave them to Peter in particular. 



108 HISfORSf AND EVIDENCES 



* neither said they any thing- to any man, for they 
were afraid ' That this testimony, therefore, of the 
fengel to the resurrection of Christ, and the assurance 
given to the disciples, that they should see their 
Master in Galilee, micrht not be lost either by the 
Women's forgetting, through the greatness of their 
amazement, what the angel had said to them, or 
through a suspicion of its having been all a mere 
illusion, neglecting or scrupling to tell it, Christ 
himself thought proper to appear to them, to calm 
their minds, disperse their terror, obviate their 
doubts* With this view he first accosts them with 
the gracious salutation of 4 All hail P then suffers 
them not only to approach him, but to 'hold him by 
the feet and worship him ; and, lastly, bidding them 
dismiss their fears, orders them, in confirmation of 
what the angel had said to them, to tell his disciples 
from him to fc go into Galilee,' assuring them with his 
OWn mouth, ' that they should see him there.' Every 
word, we see, tended to inspire them with courage 
find confidence ; and the gracious influence of every 
Word upon their minds could not but be rendered 
still more powerful and efficacious by his suffering 
them to embrace him. After this fi miliar instance 
of his favour and complacence, and this sensible 
proof of his being really and bodily risen from the 
dead, there could be no room left for doubt or terror; 
conviction, certainty, and joy, must have banished 
those uneasy prssions forever from their breasts. 
And hence it appears, that the different conduct of 
Christ on these two occasions was owing to the dif- 
ferent circumstances attending them ; to which it 
Was most wisely suited. Mary Magdalene's grief 
(the only disorder of mind she then laboured under) 
for the supposed loss of her Master's body, was soon 
dispersed, upon her hearing him call her by her 
name, and seeing him stand by her; she was imme- 
diately convinced that it was Christ, and testified 
her conviction by giving him the title of Rabboni, 
my master. She wanted* not (and therefore there 
Was no need of giving her) any farther proofs ; but 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



109 



satisfied with what she had seen and heard, she 
went to the disciples, and told them she 'had seen 
the Lord,' and that he had said such and such things 
to her. But terror, the most untractable of all pas- 
sions, when excessive, had seized upon the other 
Mary and Salome ; a terror, which, had it proceeded 
from the unexpected and supernatural appearance 
of an angel, was more likely to be confirmed, 
than removed, by the like appearance of Christ, had 
he not proceeded gently with them, and by his gra- 
cious words and demeanour given them encourage- 
ment and permission to familiarize themselves with 
him by degrees, and take, in their own way, what 
proofs they thought proper to remove their fears or 
doubts, and convince them that their affectionate 
and beloved Master was in reality restored to them 
again from the grave. 

But besides the assurance given by Christ to his 
disciples in the words here spoken by Mary Magda- 
lene, of his intention to perform his promises of 
coming to them again, &c., I cannot help thinking 
he had a farther meaning, which, though not so ob- 
vious, is, however, in my opinion, equally deducible 
from those words with the other just now mentioned. 
That remarkable expression, ' I ascend to my Fa- 
ther,' Christ undoubtedly made use of upon this oc- 
casion to recal to his disciples' minds the discourse 
he held to them three nights before, in which he 
explained so clearly what he meant by 1 going to his 
Father,' that they said to him, 4 Lo! now speakest 
thou plainly, and speakest no parable.' (John 1.6: 
29.) But this was not the only expression that puzr 
zled them ; they were as much in the dark as to the 
meaning of ' a little while and ye shall not see me, 
and again a little while and ye shall see me,' which 
they likewise confessed they did not understand. 
But Christ did not think fit to clear up their doubts 
at that time, and left those words to be expounded 
by the events to which they severally related, and 
which were then drawing on apace. For that very 
night he was betrayed and seized, and deserted by 



110 HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



his disciples, as he himself had foretold but a very 
few hours before, upon their professing 'to believe 
that he came forth from God.' The next day he was 
crucified, expired upon the cross, and was buried. 
Upon this melancholy catastrophe the disciples could 
be no longer at a loss to understand what Christ 
meant, when he said to them, 'A little while and ye 
shall not see me.' He was gone from them, and, as 
their fears suggested, gone forever, notwithstanding 
he had expressly toJd them, that he would come to 
them again ; and to those words, 1 A little while and 
ye shall not see me,' had added, ' And again a little 
while and ye shall see me.' This latter expression, 
one would think, was full as intelligible as the for- 
ir.sr ; and as the one now expounded by the event 
was plainly a prophecy of his death, so mast the 
other be understood as a prophecy of his resurrection 
from the dead. but if they understood it in that 
sense, they were very for from having a right notion 
of the resurrection from the dead : as is evident from 
their imagining, when Christ first showed himself 
to them after his passion, that they saw a spirit ; 
even though they had just b?fore declared their be- 
lief 'that he was risen indeed, and had appeared to 
Simon.' The resurrection of the body, it should 
seem from this instance, made no part of their notion 
of the resurrection from the dead. To lead them, 
therefore, into a right understanding of this most 
important article of faith, Christ, in speaking to Mary 
Magdalene, and by her to his disciples, makes use 
of terms which strongly imply his being really, that 
is bodily, risen from the dead. 'I am not yel, 5 says 
he, ' ascended to my Father ; but go unto my breth- 
ren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father,' 
&c. The words, 4 1 go to my Father,' Christ, as has 
already been observed, explained by the well un- 
derstood phrase of leaving the world ; and to this 
explanation the words immediately foregoing give 
so great a liofht, that it is impossible to mistake his 
meaning. The whole passage runs thus : — 'I came 
forth from the Father, and am come into the world ; 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



Ill 



find again I leave the world, and go to the Father.' 
By the expression, * I am come into the world,' Christ 
certainly meant to signify his being and conversing 
visibly and bodily upon earth ; and, therefore, by 
the other expression, ' I leave the world,' he must 
have intended to denote the contrary to all this, viz: 
his ceasing to be and converse visibly and bodily upon 
earth ; and so undoubtedly the disciples understood 
him to mean, when they said to him, 1 Now speakest 
thou plainly, and speakest no parable.' But as they 
knew that the usual road, by which all men quitted 
this world, lay through the gates of death, and were 
assured their'Master had trodden that irremediable 
path, they might naturally conclude, that what he had 
said to them about leaving the world, and going to 
his Father, was accomplished in his death ; and 
consistently with that notion might imagine, that, 
by his coming to them again, no more was intended, 
than his appearing to them in the same manner as 
many persons have been thought and said to appear 
after their decease. To guard against this double 
error, which Christ, to whom the thoughts of all 
hearts are open, perceived in the minds of his disci- 
ples, he plainly intimates to them in the words, ' I 
am not yet ascended to my Father, but — I do' (or 
shall) 'ascend to my Father,' that his dying, and his 
final leaving the world, were distinct things ; the 
latter of which was still to come, though the for- 
mer was past. He had indeed died like other 
mortals, and had, like them, left the world for a 
season, as he himself had often foretold them 
should come to pass ; but he was now risen from 
the dead, returned into the world, and should 
not leave it finally till he ascended to his Fa- 
ther. Of his being returned into the world, his ap- 
pearing to Mary Magdalene was doubtless intended 
for a proof; and yet of this it could be no proof 
at all, if what she saw was no more than what is com- 
monly called a spirit ; since the spirits of many peo- 
ple have been thought to appear after their decease, 
who, notwithstanding, are supposed to have as ef- 



112 HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



fectually left this world by their death, as those who 
have never appeared at all. Lazarus, like Christ, 
had died, and was, by his quickening" word recalled 
to life, which consists in the animation of the body 
by its union with the soul. Now had Christ called 
up nothing but the spirit of Lazarus, and left his 
body to putrify and perish in the grave, would not 
Lazarus, I ask, have still been reputed dead, 
and consequently considered as out of this world 
though his spirit had appeared to a thousand different 
people ? If Christ, therefore, was risen from the 
dead, as the angels affirmed he was; if he had not 
yet finally left the world, as the words, 'I am not 
yet ascended to my Father,' plainly import; and if 
his appearing to Mary Magdalene was intended for 
a proof of those two points, as undoubtedly it was ; 
it will follow, that he was really, that is bodily risen 
from the dead ; that he was still in the world in the 
same manner as when he 'came forth from the Fa- 
ther,' and 'came into the world ;' and that it was he 
himself, and not a spirit without flesh and bones, 
that appeared to Mary Magdalene. 

Before I conclude this argument, I beg leave to 
make one observation more upon the term ascend, 
twice used by our Saviour in the compass of these 
few words. In the discourse here alluded to by 
Christ, he told his disciples, that he should go to his 
Father, and he now bids Mary Magdalene tell them 
that he should ascend to his Father; a variation in 
the phrase, which, I am persuaded, had its particular 
meaning, and that not very difficult to be discovered. 
For, as by the former expression he intended, as we 
have seen, to signify in general his final departure 
out of this world, so by the latter is the particular 
manner of that departure intimated, and doubtless 
with a view of letting his disciples know the precise 
time, after which they should no longer expect to 
see and converse with him upon earth, but wait for 
the coming of that Comforter, which he promised to 
send them in his room ; and who, unless he departed 
from them, was not to come. Jesus made frequent 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



113 



visits to his disciples after his passion, (Acts 1, and 
3) ' being seen of them,' says St. Luke, 4 forty days, 
and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom 
of God.' Between some of these visits were pretty 
long intervals (John 20:2],) during which he seems 
to have disappeared, that is, not to have resided 
upon earth. Had Christ, therefore, left his disciples 
without any mark or token, by which they might be 
able to distinguish his final departure from those 
that were only temporary, they would probably have 
taken each visit for the last ; or have lingered, after 
his final departure, in a fruitless expectation of see- 
ing him again ; either of which states of uncertainty, 
and especially the last, were liable to many incon- 
veniences, to doubts, and jealousies, and fears, which 
it was goodness as well as wisdom in our Saviour to 
prevent. Nor was the preventing these evils the 
only advantage that flowed from this early intima- 
tion of the manner of Christ's final departure out of 
this world, implied in the words, 'I ascend to my 
Father,' and verified in his ascension into heaven. 
For as this could not have been effected without the 
power of God co-operating with him, so neither could 
it have been foreknown by him without the commu- 
nication of that Spirit, which only knows the coun- 
sels of God. When the disciples, therefore, beheld 
their Master* (Acts 1:9) 'taken up' into heaven, 
4 and received out of their sight by a cloud' of glory, 
they could not but know assuredly, that this was the 
event foretold about forty days before to Mary Mag- 
dalene; and knowing that could no longer doubt 
whether it was Christ himself who appeared and 
spoke those prophetic words to her, how little credit 
soever they had given to her, when she first told 
them she 4 had seen the Lord.' 

And thus (as 1 have endeavoured to make appear,) 
in these comprehensive words of Christ spoken to 
Mary Magdalene, 4 Touch me not, for I am not yet 
ascended to my Father, but go to my brethren, and 



* 3se Whitby on this place. 



114 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



say to them, I ascend to my Father,' are implied 
three particulars. First, A renewal of the several 
promises made by him to his disciples the night in 
which he was betrayed ; one of which was the pro- 
mise of coming to them again before his final depart- 
ure out of this world. Of his intention to perform 
which promise, I take his forbidding Mary Magda- 
lene to touch or embrace him, to be an earnest or 
token. Secondly, An intimation, that as his death 
and his final departure out of the world were two 
distinct things, the latter of which was yet to come ; 
so, by his rising from the dead, they were to under- 
stand his returning and being in the world, in the 
same manner with those who have not yet quitted 
the world by death, and consequently that he was 
really, that is bodily risen from the dead ; of which 
his appearing to Mary Magdalene, and saying those 
words, was an undoubted evidence. And, thirdly, 
A prophetical account of the manner of his departing 
finally out of the world, viz : by ascending into hea- 
ven. From which several particulars it was impos- 
sible, as 1 said before, for the disciples to draw any 
other conclusion than that it was Christ himself who 
appeared and spoke to Mary Magdalene. I do not 
say the disciples must necessarily have perceived, 
at the very first hearing these words, the several 
inferences which I have drawn from them ; but 
when they came to consider them attentively, to 
reflect upon what their Master had said to them, the 
night in which he was betrayed (to which these 
words evidently referred,) and when, after having 
handled his feet and hands, they were by their own 
senses convinced that he was bodily risen from the 
dead ; and lastly, when they had seen those words, 
'I ascend to my Father,' verified in his ascending 
into heaven before their eyes; then, I think, they 
could hardly avoid perceiving the several inferences, 
and drawing from them the conclusion above-men- 
tioned. For if it was not Christ, who appeared to 
Mary Magdalene, it must have been either some 
spirit, good or bad j or some man, who, to impose 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



1J5 



upon her, counterfeited the person and voice of 
Christ ; or, lastly, the whole must have been forged 
and invented by her. The first of these suppositions 
is blasphemous ; the second absurd ; and the third 
improbable. For allowing her to have been capable 
of making a lie, for the carrying on an imposture, 
from which she could reap no benefit, and to have 
been informed of what our Saviour had spoken to 
his disciples the night in which he was betrayed, 
which does not appear, it must have been either ex- 
treme madness or folly in her to put the credit of 
her tale upon events, such as the appearing of Christ 
to his diseiples, and his ascending into heaven, 
which were so far from being in the number of con- 
tingences, that they were not even within the powers 
and operations of what are called natural causes. 

The same answer may be made to the supposition, 
that the appearance of Christ to the other Mary and 
Salome "was likewise a forgery of those women; 
and with this I shall conclude the second head. 



SECTION XV. 

•Appearances of Christ, related by the Evangelists. 

Thirdly, Of the many appearances of Christ to 
his disciples, for the forty days after his passion, the 
sacred writers have mentioned particularly but very 
few; imagining, doubtless, those few sufficient to 
prove that fundamental article of the Christian faith, 
the resurrection of Jesus. And, indeed, whoever 
attends to the nature and variety of the evidence 
contained even in those few particulars, which they 
have transmitted to us, cannot, I think, but acknowl- 
edge, that those, who were appointed to be the wit- 



116 HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 

nesses of the resurrection, had every kind of proof^ 
that, in the like circumstances, either the most scru- 
pulous could demand, or the most incredulous im- 
agine. This, I doubt not, but to be able to make 
appear, in the course of the following observations ; 
in which I shall confine myself to the examination 
of those appearances only, whose circumstances the 
evangelical historians have thought proper to record, 
and upon which the faith of the apostles was princi- 
pally established. 



' The first of these, though but barely mentioned 
by St. Mark (chap. 16,) is very particularly related 
by St. Luke (chap. 24,) in the following words: — 
' And behold, two of them went the same day to a 
village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem 
about threescore furlongs ; and they talked together 
of all those things which had happened ; and it came 
to pass, that while they communed together, and 
reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with 
them : but their eyes were holden, that they should 
not know him. And he said unto them, What man- 
ner of communications are these, that ye have one 
to another, as ye walk and are sad ? And one of 
them, whose name was Cleopas, answering, said to 
him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast 
not known the things which are come to pass there 
in these days ? And he said unto them, What 
things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus 
of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed 
and word before God and all the people ; and how 
the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be 
condemned to death, and have crucified him. But 
we trusted that it had been he who should have re- 
deemed Israel. And besides all this, to-day is the 
third day since these things were done. Yea, and 
certain women also of our company made us aston- 
ished, which were early at the sepulchre ; and when 
they found not his body, they came, saying, that 
they had also seen a vision of angels, which said 
that he was alive. And certain of them that were 
with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so 




OF THE RESURRECTION. 



117 



as the women had said; but him they saw not. 
Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart 
to believe all that the prophets have spoken ! Ought 
not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter 
into his glory ? And beginning at Moses and all 
the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the 
Scriptures the things concerning himself. And they 
drew nigh unto the village whither they went, and 
he made as though he would have gone farther. 
But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us, 
for it is towards evening, and the day is far spent. 
And he went in to tarry with them. And it came to 
pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread and 
blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. And their 
eyes were opened, and they knew him ; and he van- 
ished out of their sight. And they said one to an- 
other, Did not our hearts burn within us, while he 
talked with us by the way, and while he opened to 
us the Scriptures ? And they rose up the same 
hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the 
eleven gathered together, and them that were with 
them, saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath 
appeared to Simon. And they told what things 
were done in the way, and how he was known of 
them in breaking of bread.' 

Two objections have been made to the credibility 
of this fact. First, That these disciples knew not 
Jesus during the whole time of his walking, con- 
versing, and sitting at meat with them. Secondly, 
That when upon his breaking bread, &c, their eyes 
were opened, and they are said to have known him, 
he vanished so suddenly out of their sight, that they 
seem not to have had time enough to satisfy those 
doubts, which must have arisen from their having 
conversed with him so long without knowing him. 
To the first of these objections the evangelist him- 
self furnishes us with an answer, telling us, that 
'their eyes were holden that tney should not know 
him ; which, as it will not be pretended to be above 
the operation of him, whom the apostle of the Gen- 
tiles styles 'the power of God;' so have I already 



118 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



showed it to be a proceeding not unworthy of him,* 
whom the same inspired writer, in the same place, 
calls also 'the wisdom of God.' He threw a mist 
before their corporeal eyes, that he might, by the 
pure and unprejudiced light of reason only, remove 
from before their internal sight that strong delusion, 
which held their understanding from knowing the 
true import of those types and prophecies, by which 
his sufferings, death, and resurrection were fore- 
shown. He disguised himself, but laid open the 
Scriptures ; which, till then, had 'appeared to them 
in another form and having:, by an exposition of 
Moses and the prophets, which made 'their hearts 
burn within them,' stript off those, veils and colours, 
which the worldly and carnal-minded scribes and 
pharisees had laid over them, and set them before 
their eyes in their genuine shape and lustre, he, in 
the next place, disclosed himself, and left them con- 
vinced, as well from the Scriptures, as from their 
senses, that he was risen from the dead. Which 
leads me to consider the second objection, founded 
on his vanishing out of their sight so soon after his 
discovering himself to them. 

And here I shall observe, First, That it appears 
they had no doubt but that the person, who joined 
them on the way to Ernmaus, and opened the Scrip- 
tures to them, was the same, whom, upon his break- 
ing of bread, &c, they took to be Jesus. Secondly, 
That upon their taking him to be Jesus, they must 
have been sensible of some alteration, either in 
themselves or in him, by which they were enabled 
to discover the mistake they were under while they 
knew him not. Thirdly, That alteration must, to 
them, have appeared supernatural and miraculous, as 
it is implied to have been in this phrase, ' their eyes 
were opened, and they knew him j? as must also his 
vanishing (or disappearing) from their sight. And as, 
from these particulars, it could not but be evident to 
them, that the person, whom, when their eyes were 



* Vide sup, 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



119 



opened', they, from his countenance, &c, knew to 
be Jesus, was endowed with powers more than hu- 
man ; so was it impossible for them to conclude it to 
be any other than Jesus himself, without blasphem- 
ously supposing, that God would permit any spirit, 
whether good or bad, to assume the person of his 
beloved Son, with a view of countenancing and car- 
rying on a falsehood and imposture ; especially, as 
in the conversation he had held with them by the 
way, he had opened the Scriptures, and had shown 
them, from Moses and all the prophets, that Christ 
was to suffer and die, and rise again from the dead. 
But besides the clearing up all their doubts, arising 
from his sufferings and death, which had staggered 
their faith in him, whom, till then, 6 they trusted to be 
him who should redeem Israel,' it is probable, from 
what they say about 'their hearts burning within 
them, while he opened to them the Scriptures,' that 
they perceived, either in his manner or his doctrine, 
some lively marks and characters of that dignity and 
authority, which was wont to distinguish him so much 
from the ordinary teachers of Israel, the scribes and 
pharisees. And, not to repeat what. 1 have said be- 
fore, about the probability of Christ's having, upon 
this occasion, made use of some gesture or phrase 
peculiar to himself, in breaking and blessing the 
bread, I shall only add one remark from* Grotius, 
viz: that since it was the custom among the Jews 
for the master of the feast, or the most honourable 
guest, immediately after blessing the cup, to take 
the bread, give thanks over it, break it, and after 
eating a bit of it, to distribute it round the table, 
Christ, by this action, declared himself something 
more than what those disciples had hitherto taken 
him for, a stranger and traveller, whom they had 
picked up by the way, and 4 constrained to abide' 
with them; and by that declaration awakened their 
attention to that discovery of himself, which followed 
immediately upon it ; and to which this solemn and 



* In locum. See also Drusius, ibid. 



120 HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



religious act was certainly no improper introduction. 
The inference, that is naturally deducible from these 
several observations, is, that these two disciples, 
even upon the supposition that Christ disappeared, 
immediately after their eyes were opened, and they 
knew him, had sufficient reason to be assured that 
it was he himself who had walked, conversed, and 
sat at meat with them ; and, consequently, that he 
was risen from the dead, according to what the an- 
gels had told the women, who had been that morn- 
ing at the sepulchre. 



SECTION XVI. 

Appearance of the Lord Jesus to the eleven Disciples, 
and also to Thomas, and to others. 

The next appearance of Christ, that I shall take 
notice of, and that to which all those before-men- 
tioned were preparatory, was to the eleven, and 
those with them on the evening of the same day. 
This appearance is mentioned by three of the evan- 
gelists, one relating one particular, and another an- 
other ; out of each of whose Gospels I shall therefore 
take such circumstances as are not related by the 
others, and, putting the scattered parts together, 
compose from all of them one entire relation. 

(John 20: 19) 4 Then the same day,' (viz: the day 
of the resurrection) 4 at evening, being the first day 
of the week, when the doors were shut, where the 
disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews' (Mark 
16: 14,) ' while they sat at meat' (immediately after 
the two disciples from Emmaus had finished their 
relation,) 'came Jesus and stood in the midst, and 
saith unto them, Peace be with you.' (Luke 24 : 36,) 
1 .But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



121 



that they had seen a spirit.' (Mark 16: 14,) 'And 
he (upbraiding them with their unbelief and hard- 
ness of heart," because they believed not them, who 
had seen him after he was risen) said to them' 
(Luke 24:38,) 'Why are you troubled, and why do 
thoughts arise in your hearts ? Behold my hands 
and feet, that it is 1 myself : handle me and see, for 
a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have. 
And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his 
hands and his feet. And while they yet believed 
not for joy, and wondered, he said to them, Have ye 
here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a 
broiled fish, and of an honey-comb ; and he took it, 
and did eat it before them.' (John 20:20,) 'Then 
were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord.' 
(Luke 24 : 44,) ' And he said to them, These are the 
words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with 
you, that all things must be fulfilled which were 
written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and 
in the Psalms, concerning me.' (John 20 : 22,) 4 Then 
(breathing on them, and saying, Receive ye the 
Holy Ghost) opened he their understandings, that 
they mi^ht understand the Scriptures; and said to 
them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ 
to suffer : and to rise from the dead the third day. 
And ye are witnesses of these things.' 

To this I shall add the appearance of Christ to St. 
Thomas, that I may bring all the proofs of the res- 
urrection under one view. (John 20:24.) 'But 
Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was 
not with them when Jesus came. The other disci- 
ples therefore said to him, We have seen the Lord. 
But he said to them, Except I shall see in his hands 
the print of the nails, and put my finger into the 
print of the nails, and thrust my hnnd into his side, I 
will not believe. And after eight days, again his 
disciples were within, and Thomas with them; then 
came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the 
midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then said he 
to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my 
hands ; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into 



122 HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 

my side ; and be not faithless, but believing. And 
Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord, and 
my God! Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because 
thou hast seen me, thou hast believed : blessed are 
they that have not seen, and yet have believed.' 

The proofs of Christ's being risen from the dead, 
here exhibited to the disciples, as set forth in the 
above-cited passages, may be comprised under four 
heads. First, The testimony of those ' who had 
seen him after he was risen.' Secondly, The evi- 
dences of their own senses. Thirdly, The exact 
accomplishment of the ' words which he had spoken 
to them, while he was yet with them.' And, fourthly, 
'The fulfilling of all the things which were written 
in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the 
Psalms, concerning him.' The conclusiveness of 
all which proofs I shall endeavour to show in some 
observations upon each of them. Upon the first I 
have nothing to add to what I have written already 
under the second general head,* and the beginning 
of this, excepting that our Lord, by 'upbraiding his 
disciples for not believing those who had seen him 
after he was risen,' took from them all possibility of 
doubting afterwards of the truth and reality of those 
appearances, thus confirmed and verified by his own 
irrefragable testimony. Under the words, 'those 
who had seen him after he was risen,' is compre- 
hended likewise his appearance to Simon, mentioned 
both by St. Luke (24 : 34) and St. Paul (1 Cor. 15 : 
5,) as also that to the two disciples on the way to 
Emmaus. Upon the second head (viz : the evidence 
of their own senses) it might, one would imagine, 
be thought sufficient to observe, that the disciples 
had the same 'infallible proofs' (as the author of the 
Acts calls themf ) of Christ's being alive after his 

f See the second head of the appearances of Christ to the wo- 
men ; and the third, of his appearance to the two disciples on the 
way to Emmaus. 

| Acts 1 : 3, zv TToXXotg TSKfjtr/piotg by many certain and undoubt- 
ed proofs or tokens, duintilian from Aristotle says, Tetcfjtfipia 
are indubitata et certissima signa, as the actions of speaking, walk- 
in?, eating and drinking are the TeK^npia [undoubted eignsj 
of life. 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



123 



passion, as they had ever had of his being alive be- 
fore it. They saw him, saw the particular marks of 
identity in his person and countenance, in his hands, 
feet, and side, which had been pierced at his cruci- 
fixion ; and one of them, who had refused to believe 
* except he put his finger into the print of the nails, 
and thrust his hand into his side,' had that farther 
satisfaction, unreasonable as it was, granted him ; 
they saw him also eat, what they themselves gave 
him, 'a piece of a broiled fish and an honeycomb;' 
they heard him speak, and were by him command- 
ed 'to handle him,' and see that he had flesh and 
bones ; a command* which, doubtless, they obeyed. 
And yet all these infallible tokens or proofs, these 
TEKntpia, certa et indubitata signa, have been set aside 
by some pretended philosophers and philosophizing 
divines, upon no better grounds than their own vain 
inferences from these words of St. John, 'Then 
came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the 
midst.' For taking for granted, what as philosophers 
it better became them to have proved, that it is sug- 
gested in these words that Jesus passed through the 
walls or doors, while they remained shut, without 
either suffering in his own bo^y. or causing in them 
any change, during his so passing; and having dis- 
covered, 'that for one solid or material body to pass 
through another solid or material body, without in- 
juring the form of either, both the passive and pass- 
ing body remaining the same, is contrary to all the 
laws of nature,' they have concluded, that the body 
of Christ was not a real, that is, a material body, 
and, consequently, Avas incapable of being felt by 
St. Thomas, &c. From whence it will follow, that 
the whole story is absurd and false. 

In answer to this, I deny that the words, 'Jesus 
came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst,' 
imply that 'Jesus passed through the walls or doors, 
while they remained shut, without either suffering 

* The words 'as ye see me have,' strongly imply, that they 
had received the satisfaction offered them by feeling his hands 
and feet. 



124 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



in his own body, or causing in them any change 
during his so passing.' They seem, indeed, to im- 
ply, that he came inlniraculously, though not by a 
miracle that contains a contradiction or impossibil- 
ity ; and I am persuaded, that had not St. John in- 
tended to signify that he came in miraculously, he 
would not twice have mentioned that otherwise 
trifling circumstance of * the doors being shut.' But 
though a denial without proof be a proper and suffi- 
cient answer to an assertion without proof, yet I will 
give some reasons why the interpretation contended 
for by these philosophers cannot be the true one. 
First, It is not to be presumed, that St. John, who 
with the other disciples had received sensible evi- 
dence of the reality, that is, the materiality of Christ's 
body, should be absurd enough to imagine at the 
same time, that it was a spiritual body ; which he 
must have done, had he thought that Jesus passed 
through the walls or doors, while they remained 
shut, without either suffering in his own body, or 
causing in them any change, during his so passing; 
it requiring no great depth of philosophy to under- 
stand it to be impossible, even to Omnipotence, to 
cause the body of a man to penetrate through a wail 
or door, without causing some change or alteration 
in the one or the other. Neither (secondly) is it to 
be presumed, that St. John, intending, as it is plain 
he did, by relating the story of St. Thomas, to ac- 
quaint the world, that he [Thomas] as well as the 
other disciples, had, by feeling and examining his 
Master's body, sensible evidence of his being really, 
that is, bodily, risen from the dead, should be weak 
enough to insert in his relation a circumstance, 
which tended to prove that the body, which St. 
Thomas is supposed to have felt, was not a material 
but a spiritual body, and consequently incapable of 
being felt and handled. Contradictions and absurd- 
ities are not to be presumed in any writer. On the 
contrary, as it is supposed that every man in his 
senses has some meaning in what he speaks or 
writes, so by that meaning only (which is best col* 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



125 



lected from the drift and tenor of the whole discourse) 
is the sense of any ambiguous word or sentence in 
it to be determined ; and every interpretation of 
such ambiguous word or sentence, as can be shown 
to be inconsistent with the plain meaning of the 
speaker or writer, is, for that reason, to be rejected. 
This justice, candour, and common sense require. 
Thirdly, By the way of reasoning made use of upon 
this occasion by these free-reasoning philosophers, 
the spirituality of the walls, or doors, may as well 
be inferred as the spirituality of Christ's body; for 
Christ's body being proved to be material, by being 
handled by his disciples, &c, and it being- admitted 
that he penetrated through the walls or doors, while 
they remained shut, without suffering, &c. ; it will 
follow, that the walls or doors had spiritual bodies; 
since it is contrary to the laws of nature, that one 
solid or material body should pass, &e. An argu- 
ment which would have very well become the philo- 
sophical answer to the 'Trial of the Witnesses,' as 
being sophistical, ludicrous, and absurd. 

Having now given my reasons for rejecting, as 
false, the interpretation above-mentioned, which 
some have endeavourea to fix upon these words of 
St. John, 'Jesus came, the doors beinof' shut, and 
stood in the midst ;' and having also allowed, that 
those words naturally suggest the entrance of our 
Saviour to have been miraculous ; I shall, in the 
next place, attempt to show, that the miracle here 
wrought by Jesus, instead of awakening in the minds 
of the disciples any suspicion, that their senses mig-ht 
have been imposed upon, in the examination they 
took of their Lord's body, because it is as easy for a 
power, that can control the law of nature, to excite 
in us the ideas of hearing, seeing, and feeling, with- 
out the real existence of any object of those sensa- 
tions, as to open a passage for a human body through 
walls or doors, without making any visible breach 
in them ; this miracle, I say, instead of raising any 
such suspicion in the disciples, tended on the con- 
trary to remove all their doubts, and convince them 



126 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



effectually, that it was Jesus himself, in a body con- 
sisting of flesh and bones, and not a spirit, which 
appeared to them. 

The disciples, during their conversation with 
Christ before his passion, had been accustomed to 
see him work miracles of various kinds, cast out 
devils, heal all manner of diseases, give sight to the 
blind, elocution to the dumb, legs and nerves to the 
lame and paralytic, and life to the dead ; and all this 
by a word, which they had also seen even the^winds 
and seas obey. From this extensive power o*f con- 
trolling the laws of nature, established by the great 
Creator himself, joined to the more than human 
purity of his life and doctrine, the disciples most 
rationally concluded that he 6 came forth from God. 1 
And therefore, as, on the one hand, the power of 
working miracles was a characteristical mark of Je- 
sus, and consequently his working miracles after his 
resurrection was one evidence of the identity of his 
person ; so, on the other hand, was the assurance of 
his coming ' forth from the God of truth,' founded 
upon his doing such works, 4 as no man could do, 
unless God was with him,' an infallible security to 
the disciples, against the suspicion of iiis intending 
to impose upon them. From whence it will -follow, 
that when, upon their fancying they saw a spirit, he 
assured them it was he himself, and no spirit, which 
(says he) ' hath not flesh and bones,' as they, by 
feeling and handling him, 'saw he had,' they could 
have no shadow of a pretence either for disbelieving 
his word, or distrusting their own senses. For in 
reality, doth not his appealing to their senses for a 
confirmation of what he asserted (viz: thatjt was 
he himself, and not a spirit) imply an affirmation that 
their senses were the proper judges of the point in 
question, and that he therefore left the determination 
of it to them ? And are not both the parts of this 
affirmation absolutely false, if it be supposed that the 
body here assumed by Christ was a spiritual, that is, 
an immaterial body ? And if, instead of the object 
upon which they were to judge (viz: a material 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 127 



body, capable of exciting such and such sensations,) 
a very different thing was substituted, namely, a 
mere idea of such an object, occasioned by the illu- 
sory and suborned evidence of sensations imprinted 
on their minds by a miraculous power; would not, 
I say, an appeal to the judgment of their senses in 
this case have been a mockery? And would not 
the imposing upon their senses, after such an appeal, 
have been fraudulent and dishonest? And would 
not such a proceeding have been absurd as well as 
dishonest? For, if it be allowed that Jesus had the 
power of imposing miraculously upon the senses of 
his disciples, it will not surely be denied that he had 
the power of entering miraculously into the chamber, 
where they were assembled, while 'the doors were 
shut.' The latter of these two miracles renders the 
first unnecessary. For if Jesus could in his human 
body enter into the chamber, while the doors were 
shut, there was no occasion for him to impose upon 
the senses of his disciples. And if he had it in his 
option to work whichever of those miracles he 
pleased, would it not have been absurd (with rever- 
ence be it spoken) in him to choose that, which was 
inconsistent with the character of one who 'came 
forth from the God of truth,' and directly opposite to 
the design of his appearing to his disciples after his 
passion ; which was, by offering his body to the ex- 
amination of their senses, to convince them that he 
was really, that is, bodily, risen from the dead? 

The disciples, therefore, who by the mighty signs 
and wonders done by him before his passion were 
convinced that God was with him, could not, upon 
this occasion, but draw the same conclusion from 
his entering miraculously into the room while the 
doors were shut, and as miraculously perceiving the 
secret doubts and reasonings of their hearts. And 
though, not understanding what was meant by rising 
from the dead, they had at first suspected him to be 
a spirit; yet having been satisfied of the contrary 
by handling his body, they had no more reason to 
distrust the evidence of their senses^ than they had 



128 HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



formerly, when, after having" seen him 'walk upon 
the waves' (Matt. 14,) and having from thence fallen 
into the like imagination of his being a spirit, they 
had been convinced of their mistake by the same 
kind of proofs, viz: by seeing, hearing, and feeling 
him, eating and conversing with him in the same 
manner as with other men. And indeed there is no 
intimation in the sacred writers of their having had, 
upon either of these occasions, any suspicions of 
fraud or imposture. They were simple, plain men, 
strangers to vain and visionary speculations; and 
went upon those grounds upon which all men acf, 
however some may talk, who have reasoned them- 
selves out of all the principles of reason. Having 
therefore throughout all their past lives trusted to 
the information of their senses, they could not avoid 
believing them upon the present occasion, especially 
when they were commanded to believe them by one, 
whose transcendent knowledge and power mani- 
fested him to have a thorough insight into the frame 
of man, as well as a supreme authority over the laws 
of nature. 



SECTION XVII. 

The Sufferings, Death and Resurrection of Jesus % fuU 
Jilted what he had previously foretold of thzse Events, 

Thirdly, The exact accomplishment of the words, 
in which our Saviour foretold to his disciples his 
sufferings, death, and resurrection, will evidently 
appear by comparing the words of those prophecies 
with the several circumstances of those events. 
And therefore, to enable the reader to make this 
comparison with the greater ease, I shall first set 
down the several particulars of the passion and 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 129 



death, &c, of Christ, and then produce the prophe- 
cies corresponding* to them. " 

The sufferings of Jesus, properly so called, took 
their beginning from the treachery of (Matt. 26, 
Mark 14, Luke 22, John 18,) * Judas, one of the 
twelve, who (as it is related by all the evangelists,) 
having received a band of soldiers, &c, from the 
chief priests,' with whom he had bargained 4 for thirty 
pieces of silver' to deliver him up, ' went with them 
to a garden, whither he knew Christ was accustom- 
ed to resort,' and there by the sign agreed on [a 
kiss] having pointed him out, put him into their hands, 
who, seizing on him immediately, 'carried him be- 
fore the high priest,' &c. 

This fact was several times foretold by Jesus ; at 
first more obscurely, as in these words (John 6 : 76,) 
'Have not I chosen you twelve ? and one of you is 
a devil,'' At«/3oXo?, an informer? and in these (Matt. 
17: 22) 'The Son of Man shall be betrayed into the 
hands of men ; and in others of the same general 
import ; then more plainly at his last supper to his 
disciples, who, upon his saying (Matt. 26:21 ; Mark 
14 : 18 ; Luke 22 :21,) ' Verily I say unto you, that 
one of you shall betray me,' were * exceeding sor- 
rowful, and began every one of them to say to 
him, Lord, is it I ?' In answer to which he said, 
*he that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the 
same shali betray me.' These words, as Grotius* 
observes, must be taken to come somewhat nearer 
to a declaration of the person who was to betray 
Jesus than those others, 'one of you shall betray 
me.' ' Wherefore,' adds that learned commentator, 
6 1 am persuaded, that Judas sat near to Christ, so 
as to eat out of the same dish or mess with him, 
there being several dishes or messes on the table.' 
This conjecture is indeed very probable, and gives 
great light to this whole matter. Upon which we 
may observe still farther, that as the disciples, even 
after this declaration, were still in doubt of whom 



* See Grot, in loc. 



130 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



he spake, it is evident there must have been others 
besides Judas, who (John 13:22) 4 dipped their 
hands in the same dish with Jesus,' otherwise that 
description had sufficiently made him known, and 
there had bpen no occasion for Simon Peter to have 
'beckoned to that disciple, who was leaning on the 
bosom of Jesus,' that he should ask him of whom he 
spoke ? In compliance therefore with this demand, 
made to him by St. John in the name of all his disci- 
ples, and to put an end at once to all their doubts, 
Jesus told them he would point out the very person 
to them, saying, } he it is, to whom I shall give a sop 
when I have dipped it; and when he had dipped the 
sop, he gave it to Judas Tscariot the son of Simon \ 
who appearing surprised at being thus pronounced a 
traitor, either for his farther satisfaction,, or to dis- 
semble the wickedness of his heart, himself asked 
Jesus, if it was he. To whom Jesus answered^ 
1 thou sayest.' ' And thus (concludes Grotius) Christ 
gave proofs of his foreknowledge by degrees ; first 
including the future traitor in the number of the 
twelve ; then in the lesser number of those who sat 
next to him ; and lastly, by certain and precise 
marks, pointing out the very person himself.' To 
which I must add, that in order to imprint this proph- 
ecy strongly on the minds of his disciples, he intro- 
duced it with applying to himself a passage of the 
Psalms (41 : 9,) 'He that eateth bread with me, hath 
lift up his heel against me ;' and with these remark- 
able words, ' now I tell you before it come, that when 
it is come to pass ye may believe that I am he.' 

Secondly, The next incident is the desertion of 
the disciples, who, as we learn, both from St. Mat- 
thew (26: 56) and St. Mark (14 : 50) upon their Mas- 
ter's being seized by the soldiers and servants of 
the chief priests, who came with Judas, all immedi- 
ately ' forsook him and fled*' 

Of this their desertion Jesus had forewarned them 
but a very short time before it came to pass, and that 
in the very pride and confidence of their faith upon 
their professing to believe, that (Matt 26 ; 31 \ Mark 



OP THE RESURRECTION, 131 



14:27, compared with John 28:32) 'he came forth 
from God : then saith Jesus to them, All ye shall be 
offended because of me this night,' or (as it is in St. 
John) 'shall be scattered every man to his own 
home ; for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, 
and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.' 

The third particular is Peter's disowning Christ, 
recorded in all the evangelists ; by whose account 
it appears, that Peter, following Christ at a distance 
to the palace of the high priest, was let into the court 
by the means of St. John, who 'spake to her that 
kept the door, and brought in Peter f where, stand- 
ing among the crowd, while his Master was under 
examination, he was three several times charged by 
some who were about him with belonging to Christ, 
which he as often denied, affirming 4 with oaths and 
imprecations,' that he did not so much as know him ; 
and immediately after his third denial the cock crew 
(Luke 22:61); 'and then the Lord turned, and 
looked upon Peter, and Peter remembered the word 
of the Lord — and went out and wept bitterly.' The 
prophecy is as follows (Mark 14 : 31) ; ' Verily f say 
to thee [Peter,] this day, even this night, before the 
cock crow twice thou shall deny (or disown) me 
thrice.' Here we see the nature, the time, and the 
repetitions of Peter's offence precisely defined and 
limited. And I take the suddenness and sincerity 
of his return to his former faith in his Master implied 
in his 'weeping bitterly' upon the recollection of his 
crime, and of his Master's words, to be fore-signified 
in this passage of St. Luke (22:31, 32,) ' And the 
Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired 
to have you, that he may sift you as wheat ; but I 
have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not ; and 
when thou art converted (hispida;, returned back 
again to the faith,) strengthen thy brethren.' 

The fourth event foretold by Christ is his being 
delivered to the high priests, and by them to Pontius 
Pilate the Roman governor, together with many 
particulars of his sufferings, from that time to his 



132 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



crucifixion. All which things are related by the 
evangelists as follows: 

(Matt. 26:57; Mark 14:53) 'And they that had 
laid hold on Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the 
high priest, where the scribes and the elders were 
assembled who, after having examined some wit- 
nesses, from whose evidence nothing criminal could 
be made out against him, at length * abjured him by 
the living God to tell them, whether he was the 
Christ the Son of God.' To him Jesus saith, ' thou 
hast said. Then the high priest rent his clothes, 
saying, He hath spoken blasphemy : what further 
need have we of witnesses ? Behold now you have 
heard his blasphemy; what think ye? They an- 
swered and said, He is guilty of death. Then did 
they spit in his face, and buffeted him, and others 
smote him with the palms of their hands, saying, 
Prophesy to us, thou Christ, who is he that smote 
thee. 5 

(Matt. 27) * And when they had bound him, they 
led him away to Pontius Pilate, the Roman gover- 
nor^ who, overcome by the clamours of a tumultu- 
ous multitude, at last delivered him to be crucified, 
after having declared him innocent five several times, 
and endeavoured, in vain, to prevail upon the Jews 
to let him go free, or to be contented with his having 
scourged him. 'Then the soldiers of the governor 
took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered to 
him the whole band of soldiers ; and they stripped 
him, and put on him a scarlet robe ; and when they 
had plaited a crown of thorns, they put it upon his 
head, and a reed in his right hand." And they bowed 
the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, 
king of the Jews! And they spit upon him, and 
took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment 
on hirn, and led him away to crucify him.' 

The words, in which many of these particulars 
were foretold, are these (Matt. 20 : 18) : 'Behold, 
we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be 
betrayed to the chief priests, and to the scribes, and 
they shall condemn him to death. And shall deliver 



OP THE RESURRECTION. 



133 



him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to 
crucify him.' In St. Mark 9 : 34, it is, 'They [the 
Gentiles] shall mock him, and shall scourge him, 
and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him.' In St. 
Luke 18 : 32, 4 For he shall be delivered to the Gen- 
tiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, 
and spit on, and they shall scourge him, and put him 
to death.' Of his sufferings from the elders and 
chief priests he spoke in these words (Matt. 1() :20): 
'From that time forth began Jesus to show his dis- 
ciples how he must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many 
things of the elders and chief priests, and scribes, 
and be killed,' &c. 

Fifthly. His crucifixion and death are mentioned 
in every one of the last-cited passages, and in many 
others up and down the evangelists, either in ex- 
press words, or in figures or allusions, which I think 
it is not necessary to insert, no more th n the rela- 
tion of those events, which are too well known to 
be disputed. 

One proof, however, of his death, T shall here beg 
leave to mention, because it has not been much at- 
tended to by common readers. St. John (19 : 33, 34,) 
after having related that the soldiers ' brake the legs 
of the two thieves,' who were crucified with Jesus, 
adds, 'But when they came to Jesus, and saw that 
he was dend already, they brake not his legs, but one 
of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and 
forthwith came thereout blood and water; and he 
that saw it bare record,' &c. Upon these words 
Beza makes the following observation. Among the 
reasons that induced St. John to assert this fact with 
so much emphasis, this ought not to be passed over, 
which Erasmus also touches upon ; namely, that by 
this wound the death of Christ is fully proved. For 
the water, flowing out of that wound in the side, 
was an indication of the spear's having penetrated 
the pericardium, in which that water is lodged, and 
which beino- wounded, every animal must necessari- 
ly die immediately. This fact therefore was inserted 
to obviate the calumnies of the enemies of the truth, 
12 



134 HISTORY AND. EVIDENCES 



who might otherwise pretend, that Jesus wa3 taken 
down from the cross before he was dead, and thence 
call in question the reality of his resurrection. 

Sixthly. Of his rising from the dead I need not 
here again produce the proofs, having set them forth 
so copiously in all the preceding- parts of this dis- 
course 5 but concerning the evidence of his rising 
precisely on ' the third day,' I think it proper here 
to add an observation or two. That he did not rise 
before the third day is evident from what St. Mat- 
thew relates of the watch or guard being set at the 
door of the sepulchre. The passage is~this (Matt. 
27:63): 'Now the next day, that followed the day 
% of the preparation, the chief priests and pharisees 
came together to Pilate, saying, Sir, we remember 
that that deceiver said, whilst he was yet alive, after 
three days J will rise again s command therefore 
that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, 
lest his disciples come by night and steal him away, 
and say to the people, he is risen from the dead ; so 
the last error shall be worse than the first,' &c. 
From these words I observe, First, That the watch 
or guard was set at the sepulchre the next day after 
the death and burial of Christ. Secondly, It is most 
probable this was done on, what we call, the evening 
• of that day ; because that was a high-day, not only 
" a sabbath, but the passover; and it can hardly be 
imagined that the chief priests," and especially the 
pharisees, who pretended to greater strictness and pa- 
rity than any other sect of the Jews, should before the 
religious duties of the day were over, defile them- 
selves by going to Pilate ; for that they were very 
scrupulous upon that point appears from what St. 
- John (18 : 28) says of their not entering into the hall 
( of judgment (the pratorium, where Pilate's tribunal 
' was) the day before, 'lest they should be defiled,' 
and so kept from eating the passover. And if it 
should be said, that the paschal lamb being always 
eaten in the night, all their scruples upon that ac- 
count were over, and they at liberty to go to Pilate 
jl\ the morning, or at what other ^ime they pleased, 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



I answer, that allowing the objection, it is still far- 
ther to be considered, that this was the sabbath-day ; 
and can it be supposed that the phirisees who cen- 
sured Jesus 4 for healing, and his disciples for pluck- 
ing and eating the ears of corn on the sabbath-day,' 
would profane that day, and defile themselves, not 
only by going to Pilate, but with the soldiers to the 
sepulchre of Christ, and setting a seal upon the door 
of the sepulchre, before the religious duties of that 
solemn day were past? especially as they were 
under no kind of necessity of doing it before the 
evening ; though it was highly expedient for them 
not to delay it beyond that time. Both which points 
I shall now explain. 

Jesus had said, whilst he was yet alive, that he 
should rise again from the dead on *the third day;' 
which prophecy would have been equally falsified 
by his rising on the first or second, as on the fourth. 
If his body therefore was not in the sepulchre 4 at 
the close of the second day,' the chief priests and 
pharisees would gain their point, and might have 
asserted boldly, that he was an impostor ; from 
whence it will follow, that it was time enough for 
them to visit the sepulchre at 4 the close of the sec- 
ond day.' On the other hand, as he had declared 
he should rise on the third day, it was necessary for 
them (if they apprehended what they gave out, that 
his disciples would come and steal him away) to 
guard against any such attempt on that day, and for 
that day only. And, as the third day began from 
the evening or shutting-in of the second, according 
to the way of computing used amonof the Jews, it 
was as necessary for them not to delay visiting the 
sepulchre, and setting their guard, till after the be- 
ginning of that third day ; for if they had come to 
the sepulchre, though ever so short a time after the 
* third day was begun,' and had found the body 
missing, they could not from thence have proved 
him an impostor. And accordingly St. Matthew tells 
us they went thither on the second day, which was 
the sabbath ; and though the going to Pilate, and 



138 HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



with the Roman soldiers, to the sepulchre, and seal* 
ing up the stone, was undoubtedly a profanation of 
the sabbath, in the eyes of the ceremonious phari- 
sees, yet might they excuse themselves to their con- 
sciences, or (what seems to have been of greater 
consequence in their opinions) to the world, by 
pleading; the necessity of doing it that day. And 
surely nothing could have carried them out on such 
a business, on such a day, but the urgent necessity 
of doing it then, or not at all. And as I have shown 
above, that this urgent necessity could not take 
place till the 'close of the second day,' and just, 
though but one moment, before the beginning of the 
third ; it will follow, from what hath been said, that, 
in the estimation of the high priests and pharisees, 
the day on which they set their guard was the second 
day ; and the next day consequently was the third; 
to the end of which they requested Pilate to com- 
mand that the sepulchre might be made sure. Here 
then we have a proof, furnished by the murderers 
and blasphemers of Christ themselves, that he was 
not risen before the third day ; for it is to be taken 
for granted, that before they sealed up the sepul- 
chre, and set the guard, they had inspected it, and 
seen that the body was still there. Hence also are 
we enabled to answer the unlearned cavils, that 
have been raised upon these expressions, 'three 
days and three nights,' and 4 after three days.' For 
it is plain, that the chief priests and pharisees, by 
their going- to the sepulchre on the sabbath-day, 
understood that day to be the second ; and it is as 
plain, by their setting the guard from that time, and 
the reason given to Pilate for their so doing, viz: 
i lest the disciples should come in the night and 
steal him away,' that they construed that day, which 
was just then beginning, to be the day limited by 
Christ for his rising from the dead, that is, the third 
day. For had they taken these words of our Saviour, 
'the Son of Man shall be three days and th^ee nights 
in the heart of the earth,' in their strict liter a] sense, 
they need not have been in such haste to set their 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



137 



guard ; since, according to that interpretation, there 
were yet 4 two days and two nights' to come ; nei- 
ther, for the same reason, had they any occasion to 
apprehend ill consequences from the disciples com- 
ing 4 that night,' and stealing away the body of their 
Master. So that, unless it be supposed that the 
chief priests and pharisees, the most learned sect 
among the Jews, did not understand the meaning of 
a phrase in their own language ; or that they were 
so impious and impolitic as to profane the sabbath 
and defile themselves without any occasion ; and so 
senseless and impertinent as to ask a guard of Pilate 
for watching the sepulchre 'that night and day,' to 
prevent the discip'es stealing away the body of 
Christ the night or the day following ; unless, J say, 
these strange suppositions be admitted, we may 
fairly conclude, that in the language, and to the 
understanding of the Jews, * three days and three 
nights,' and 4 after three days,' were equivalent to 
* three days, or in three days.' That he rose on the 
third day, the testimony of the angels, and his own 
appearances to the women, to Simon, and to the two 
disciples on the way to Emmius, which all happened 
on that day, are clear and sufficient proofs. 

The predictions of Christ, relating to this miracu- 
lous event, are many ; some of which only I shall 
here s<^t down, for brevity's sake. 

(Matt. 17 :?») 'And as they [the three disciples] 
came down from the mountain (where Christ had 
been transfigured) Jesus charged them, saying, tell 
the vision to no man, until the Son of Man be risen 
again from the dead.' 
"(Matt. 26:32) \ But after I am risen, I will go be- 
fore you into Galilee.' 

(Matt 16 : 22) 4 From that time forth began Jesus 
to show to his disciples, how that he must go to Je- 
rusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and 
chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised 
again the third dav.' 

( Matt. 20 : 18, 19) 4 Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, 
and the Son of Man shall be betrayed to the chief 



138 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



priests, and to the scribes, and they shall condemn 
him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles, 
to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him, and the 
third day he shall rise again.' 

I shall defer what remarks I have to make upon 
these predictions, and their accomplishment, till I 
come to consider the prophecies contained in the 
writings of Moses, and the prophets, and the Psalms, 
relating- to the sufferings, and death, and resurrec- 
tion of Christ ; for those only belong to the present 
subject. 



SECTION XVIII. 

The Sxifferings and Death of Jesus distinctly foretold 
in the Old Testament. 

Fourthly, The fourth evidence appealed to by 
our Saviour, was the testimony of the Scriptures ; 
in which are contained, not only the promises of a 
Messiah, and Saviour of the world, but the marks 
and descriptions by which he was to be known. Of 
these there are many, and those so various, so seem- 
ingly incompatible in one and the same person, and 
exhibited under such a multitude of types and fig- 
ures, that as it was absurd for a mere mortal to pre- 
tend to answer the character of the Messiah in all 
points, so was it difficult to those, who by some ex- 
pressions of the piophets were filled with the idea 
of a glorious, powerful, and triumphant deliverer, to 
understand the intimation given in others^ of his 
sufferings and death. But this difficulty proceeds 
rather from the prejudices and blindness of the in- 
terpreters, than from any degree of obscurity in the 
latter more than in the former. His sufferings and 
death, and his offering himself up as a sacrifice for 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



139 



sin, are as plainly set forth in the writings of the 
prophets, and in the types of the Mosaical ceremo- 
nies, as his power and his priesthood. And if the 
Jews, and even the disciples, possessed wlik the like 
vain and carnal imagination, turned their views and. 
expectations to the one, and overlooked the other, 
it was owing- to their mistaking the nature of hm 
kingdom, and the end and design of Ms priestly 
office. This, I doubt not, might be made appear by 
comparing the several types and prophecies togeth- 
er, but would carry me too far from my present pur- 
pose, which is only to show, that the sufferings, and 
death, and resurrection of Christ, were foretold in 
the types and predictions contained in the books of 
Moses, in the .prophets, and in the Psalms ; and to 
derive from thence another proof in -favour of the 
resurrection. 

The first prophecy relating to the subject in the. 
hooks of Moses, and the first indeed that was ever 
given to man, is that recorded in the third chapter 
©f Genesis, and the 15th verse, in these words, * And 
I will put enmity between thee [the serpent] and 
the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. It 
shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.' 

Upon this prophecy, I shall beg leave to quote a 
passage out of the present Bishop of Salisbury's 
most admirable discourses, 'Of the use and intent of 
prophecy in the several ages of the world,' (Disc. 3, 
p. 57.) 4 Let us consider the history of Moses, as we 
should do any other ancient Eastern history of the 
like antiquity. Suppose, for instance, that this ac- 
count of the fall had been preserved to us out of 
Sanchoniatho's Phoenician History ; we should, in 
that case, be at a loss perhaps to account for every 
manner of representation, for every figure and ex- 
pression in the story ; but we should soon agree, 
that all these difficulties were imputable to the man- 
ner and customs of his age and country ; and should 
show more respect to so venerable a piece of antiq- 
uity, than to charge it with want of sense, because 
we did not understand every minute circumstance.. 



140 HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



We should likewise agree, that there were evidently 
four persons concerned in the story ; the mn, the 
woman, the person represented by the serpent, and 
God. Disagree we could not ahout their several 
parts. The serpent is evidently the tempter: the 
man and woman are the offenders; God the Judge 
of all three. The punishments inflicted on the man 
and woman have no obscurity in them ; and as to 
the serpent's sentence, we should think it reasonable 
to give it such a sense as the whole series of the 
story requires. 

4 It is no unreasonable thing surely to demand the 
same equity of you in interpreting the sense of Mo- 
ses, as you would certainly use towards any other 
ancient writer. And if* the same equity be allowed, 
this plain fact undeniably arises from the history; 
that man was tempted to disobedience, and did dis- 
obey, and forfeited all title to happiness, and to life 
itself ; that God judged him, and the deceiver like- 
wise under the form of a serpent. We require no 
more ; and will proceed upon this fact to consider 
this prophecy before us. 

'The prophecy is part of the sentence passed upon 
the deceiver: the words are these ; 4 1 will put en- 
mity between thee and the woman, and between 
thy seed and her seed : it shall bruise thy head, and 
thou shalt bruise his heel f (Gen. 3 : 15.) Christian 
writers n pp] y this to our hlesspd Saviour, emphati- 
cally sty^d here 44 the seed of the woman," and who 
came in the fulness of time to 44 bruise the serpent's 
head," by destroying "the works of the devil," and 
restoring those to the liberty of the sons of God, 
who were he^d under the bondage and captivity of 
sin. You will say, wh°-t unreasonable liberty of 
interpretation is this ? Tell us by what rules of "lan- 
guage 44 the seed of the woman" is made to denote 
one particular person, and by what art you discover 
the mystery of Christ's miraculous conception and 
birth in this common expression ? tell us likewise^ 
how bruising the serpent's head comes to signify 
the destroying the power of sin f and the redemption 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



141 



of mankind by Christ ? 'Tis no wonder to hear such 
questions, from those who look no farther than to 
the third chapter of Genesis, to see the ground of 
the Christian application. As the prophecy stands 
there, nothing nppears to point out this particular 
meaning ; much less to confine this prophecy to it. 
But of this hereafter. Let us for the present lay 
aside all our own notions, and go back to the state 
and condition of things, as they were at the time of 
the delivery of this prophecy ; and see (if haply we 
may discover it) what God intended to discover at 
that time by this prophecy, and what we may rea- 
sonably suppose our first parents understood it to 
mean. 

'They were now in a state of sin, standing before 
God to receive sentence for their disobedience, and 
had reason to expect a full execution of the penalty 
threatened, 4 In the dny thou eatest thereof thou 
sha't surely die.' But God came in mercy as well 
as judgment, purposing not only to punish, but to 
restore man. The judgment is awful and severe ; 
the woman is doomed to sorrow in conception ; the 
man to sorrow and travail all the days of his life ; 
the ground is cursed for his sake ; and the end of 
the judgment is "Dust thou art and to dust thou 
shalt return." Had they been left thus, they might 
have continued in their labour and sorrow for their 
appointed time, and at last returned to dust, without 
any well-grounded hope or confidence in God : they 
must have looked upon themselves as rejected by 
their Maker, delivered up to trouble and sorrow in 
this world, and as having no hope in any other. 
Upon this foot, 1 conceive, there could have been no 
religion left in the world ; for a sense of religion 
without hope is a st'-te of frenzy and distraction, 
void of all inducements to love and obodipnee, or 
any thing else that is praise-worthy. Tf therefore 
God intended to preserve them as objects of mercy, 
it was absolutely necessary to communicate so much 
hope to them, as might be a rational foundation for 
jtheir future endeavours to reconcile themselves %q 



142 HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



him by a better obedience. This seems to be the 
primary intention of this first divine prophecy ; and 
it was necessay to the st-ite of the world, and the 
condition of religion, which could not possibly have 
been supported without the communication of such 
hopes. The prophecy is excellently adapted to this 
purpose, and m imfestly conveyed such hopes to our 
first parents. For let us consider, in what sense we 
may suppose them to understand this prophecy. 
Now they must necessarily understand the prophe- 
cy, either according" to the literal meaning of the 
words, or according to such meaning as the whole 
circumstance of the transact ion, of which they are 
a part, does require. If we suppose them to under- 
stand the words literally, and that God meant th^m 
so to be understood, this passage must appear ridic- 
ulous. Do but imagine that you see God coming 
to judge the offenders; Adam and Eve before him 
in the utmost distress ; that you hear God inflicting 
pains, and sorrow, and misery, and death upon the 
first of the human race ; arid that in the midst of all 
this scene of woe and great calamity, you hear God 
foretelling with great solemnity a very trivial acci- 
dent, that should sometimes happen in the world; 
that serpents would be apt to bite men by the heels, 
and that men would be apt to revenue themselves 
by striking them on the head. What has this trifle 
to do with the loss of mankind, with the corruption 
of the natural and moral world, and the ruin of all 
the glory and happiness of the creation ? Great 
comfort it was to Adam, dontless, after telling him 
that his days should be short and full of misery, and 
his end without hope, to let him know that he should 
now and then knock a snake on the head, but not 
even that, without paying dear for his poor victory, 
for the sn ike should often bite him by the heel. 
Adam, surely, could not understand the prophecy in 
this sense, though some of his sons have so under- 
stood it; a plain indication how much mnre some 
men are concerned to maintain a literal interpreta- 
tion of Scripture, than they are to make it speak 



OP THE RESURRECTION. 



143 



common sense. Leaving this therefore as absolute- 
ly absurd and ridiculous, let us consider what mean- 
ing the circumstances of the transaction do neces- 
sarily fix to the words of this prophecy. Adam, 
tempted by his wife, and she by the serpent, had 
fallen from their obedience, and were now in the 
presence of God expecting judment. They knew 
full well at this juncture, that their fall was the vic- 
tory of the serpent, whom by experience they found 
to be an enemy to God and to man ; to man, whom 
he had ruined by seducing him to sin ; to God, the 
noblest work of whose creation he had defaced. It 
could not therefore but be some comfort to them to 
hear the serpent first condemned, and to see, that, 
however he had prevailed against them, he had 
gained no victory over their Maker, who was able to 
assert his own honour, and to punish this great author 
of iniquity. By this method of God's proceeding 
they were secured from thinking that there was any 
evil being, equal to the Creator in power and do- 
minion. An opinion which gained ground in after- 
times through the prevalency of evil ; and is, where 
it does prevail, destructive of all true religion. The 
condemnation therefore of the serpent was the main- 
tenance of God's supremacy ; and that it was so 
understood, we h ive, if I mistake not, a very ancient 
testimony in the book of Job : " with God is strength 
and wisdom, the deceived and the deceiver are his," 
that is, equally subject to his command. (Job 12:16.) 
The belief of God's supreme dominion, which is the 
foundation of all religion, being thus preserved, it 
was still necessary to cfive them such hopes as might 
make them capable of religion toward God. These 
hopes they could not but conceive, when they heard 
from the mouth of God, that the serpent's victory 
was not a complete victory over even themselves ; 
that they and their posterity should be enabled to 
contest his empire ; and though they were to suffer 
much in the struggle, yet finally they should prevail 
and bruise the serpent's head, and deliver themselves 
from his power and dominion over them. What no\y 



144 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



could they conceive thid conquest over the serpent 
to mean ? Is it not natural to expect, th.it we shall 
recover that by victory, which we lost by being" de- 
feated ? they knew that the enemy had subdued 
them by sin ; could they then conceive hopes of 
victory otherwise than by righteousness? They 
lost through sin the happiness of their creation; 
could they expect less from the return of righteous- 
ness than the recovery of the blessings forfeited ? 
What else but this couM they expect? For the 
certain knowledge they had of their loss when the 
serpent prevailed, could not but lead them to a clear 
knowledge of what they should regain by prevailing" 
against the serpent. The language of this prophecy 
is indeed in part metaphorical, but it is a srreat mis- 
take to think that all metaphors are of uncertain 
signification ; for the design and scope of the speak- 
er, with the circumstances attending, create a fixed 
and determinate sense. Were it otherwise, there 
would be no certainty in any language ; all lan- 
guages, the eastern more especially, abounding in 
metaphors. 

* T et us now look back to our subject, and see what 
application we are to make of this instance. 

'This prophecy was to our first parents but. very 
obscure ; it was, in the phrase of St. Peter, but " a 
light shining in a dark place;" all that th^y could 
certainly conclude from it was that their case was 
not desperate ; that some remedy, that somp deliv- 
erance fmm the evil they were under, would in time 
appear; but when, or where, or by wh it means, they 
could not understand: their own sentence, which 
returned th^m back a^ain to the dust of the earth, 
made it difficult to apprehend what this victory over 
the serpent should signify, or how they, who were 
shortly to be dust and ashes, should be the better 
for it. But after all that can be urged upon this 
head to set out the obscurity of this promise, I would 
ask one question : Was not this promise or prophecy, 
though surrounded with all this obscurity, a founda- 
tion for religion, and trust and confidence towards 



OP THE RESURRECTION. 



145 



God after the fall, in hopes of deliverance from the 
evils introduced by disobedience ? if it was, it fully 
answered the necessity of their case, to whom it 
was givon, and manifested to them all that God in- 
tended to nuke manifest. They could have had 
towards God no religion, without some hopes of 
mercy: it was necessary therefore to convey such 
hopes ; but to tell them how these hopes should be 
accomplished, at what time and manner precisely, 
was not necessary to their religion. And what is 
now to be objected against this prophecy ? It is 
very obscure, you say ; so it is ; but it is obscure in 
the points, which God did not intend to explain at 
that time, and which were not necessary then to be 
known. You see a plain reason for giving this 
prophecy, and as far as the reason for giving the 

f rophecy extends, so far the prophecy is very plain, 
t is obscure only where there is no reason why it 
should be plain ; which surely is a fault easily to be 
forgiven, and very far from being a proper subject 
for complaint. 

♦But if this prophecy conveyed to our first parents 
only a general hope and expectation of pardon and 
restoration, and was intended by God to convey no 
more to them, how came we, their posterity, to find 
so much more in this promise than we suppose them 
to find? How is it that we pretend to discover 
Christ in this prophecy, to see in it the mystery of his 
birth, his sufferings, and his final triumph over all 
the powers of darkness ? By what new light do we 
discern all these secrets? By what art do we un- 
fold them ? 

'It is no wonder to me, that such as come to the 
examination of the prophecies applied to Christ, ex- 
pecting to find in each of them some express char- 
acter and mark of Christ, plainly to be understood 
as such antecedently to his coming, should ask these, 
or any other the like questions; or that the argu- 
ment from ancient prophecy should appear so light 
and trivial to those who know no better use of it. 

'"Known unto God are all his works from the 



146 HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



beginning f and whatever degree of light he thought 
fit to communicate to our first parents, or to their 
children in after-times, there is no doubt but that he 
had a perfect knowledge at all times of all the meth- 
ods by which he intended to rescue and restore 
mankind ; and therefore all the notices given by him 
to mankind of his intended salvation, must corres- 
pond to the great event, whenever the fulness of 
time shall make it manifest No reason can be 
given why God should at all times, or any time, 
clearly open the secrets of his providence to men ; 
it depends merely upon his good pleasure to do it in 
what time and in what manner he thinks proper. 
But there is a necessary reason to be given why all 
such notices as God thinks fit to give should answer 
exactly in due time to the completion of the great 
design: it is absurd therefore to complain of the 
ancient prophecies for being obscure ; for it is chal- 
lenging God for not telling us more of his secrets. 
But if we pretend, that God has at length manifested 
to us by the revelation of the Gospel the method of 
his salvation, it is necessary for us to show, that all 
the notices of this salvation given to the old world 
do correspond to the things which we have heard, 
and seen with our eyes. The argument from proph- 
ecy therefore is not to be formed in this manner: 
All the ancient prophecies have expressly pointed 
out and characterized Christ Jesus. But it must be 
formed in this manner: All the notices which God 
gave to the fathers of his intended salvation, are 
perfectly answered by the coming of Christ. He 
never promised or engaged his word in any particu- 
lar relating to the common salvation, but what he 
has fully made good by sending his Son to our re- 
demption. Let us try these methods upon the 
prophecy before us. If you demand, that we should 
show you a priori Christ Jesus set forth in this 
prophecy, and that God had limited himself by this 
promise to convey the blessings intended by sending 
his own Son in the flesh, and by no other means 
whatever, you demand what I cannot show, nor do I 



OF THE RESURRECTICKV. 



147 



know who can. But if you inquire, whether this 
prophecy, in the obvious and most natural meaning 
of it, in that sense in which our first parents, and 
their children after, might easily understand it, has 
been verified by the coming of Christ, I conceive it 
may be made as clear as the sun at noon-day, that 
all the expectation raised by this prophecy has been 
completely answered by the redemption wrought by 
Jesus Christ. And what have you to desire more 
than to see a prophecy fulfilled exactly? If you 
insist, that the prophecy should have been more ex- 
press, you must demand of God why he gave you no 
more light ; but you ought at least to suspend this 
demand till you have a reason to show for it. 

4 1 know that this prophecy is urged farther, and 
that Christian writers argue from the expressions of 
it to show that Christ is therein particularly foretold : 
he properly is the "seed of a woman" in a sense in 
which no other ever was ; his sufferings were well 
prefigured by the " bruising of the heel," his com- 
plete victory over sin and death by "bruising the 
serpent's head." When unbelievers hear such rea- 
sonings, they think themselves entitled to laugh ; 
but their scorn be to themselves. We readily allow 
that the expressions do not imp^y necessarily this 
sense : we allow farther, that there is no appearance 
that our first parents understood them in this sense, 
or that God intended they should so understand 
them : but since this prophecy has been plainly ful- 
filled in Christ, and by the event appropriated to him 
only: I would fain know how it comes to be con- 
ceived to be so ridiculous a thing in us, to suppose 
that God, to whom the whole event was known from 
the beginning,* should make choice of such expres- 

* Remember the former things of old ; for I am find, and there 
is none else ; I am Cod, and ihere is none like me; declaring the 
end from The beginning, and from ancient times the things that 
are not yet done, savins:, nty counsel shall stand, and I will doali 
my pleasure. 7 !sa. 46:9, 10. 

' The works of the Lord are done in judgment from the begin- 
ning ; and from the time he made them, he disposed the parts 
thereof.' Ecctes. 16 : 26. 



148 HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



sions, as naturally conveyed so much knowledge as 
he intended to convey to our first parents, and yet 
should appear in the fulness of time to have been 

Eeculiany adapted to the event, which he from the 
eginning saw, and which he intended the world 
should one dav see ; and which when they should 
see, they might the more easily acknowledge to be 
the work of his hand, by the secret evidence which 
he had enclosed from the days of old in the words of 
prophecy. However the wit of man may despise 
this method, yet there is nothing in it unbecoming 
the wisdom of God. And when we see this to be 
the case, not only in this instance, but in m my 
other prophecies of the Old Testament, it is not 
without reason w r e conclude, that under the obscur- 
ity of ancient prophecy there was an evidence of 
God's truth kept in reserve, to be made manifest in 
due time.' 

The exquisite and masterly sense, clearness, and 
force of reason, which are so conspicuous in this 
passage, that every common reader must perceive, 
and every judicious one admire it; and the perti- 
nency of it to the present subject, will, I doubt not, 
sufficiently atone for the length of the quotation. 

In all the books of Moses, I find no other prophecy 
but this, relative to the death and sufferings of 
Christ; I shall, therefore, according to the method 
pointed out in the words of our Saviour, proceed in 
the next place to the prophets ; and first produce 
one out of Isaiah, whose application to the Messiah 
the most obstinate enemies of the Gospel have not 
been able to deny. 

Isaiah 53. 'Who hath believed our report? And 
to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed ? For he 
shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a 
root out of a dry ground. He hath no form nor 
comeliness, and when we shall see him, there is no 
beauty that we should desire him. He is despised 
and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquaint- 
ed with errief ; and we hid as it were our faces from 
him. He was despised, and we esteemed him not. 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



149 



Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sor- 
rows ; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of 
God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our 
transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: 
the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and 
with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep 
have gone astray: we have turned every one to his 
own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity 
of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, 
yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a 
lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her 
shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. He 
was taken from prison and from judgment : # and 
who shall declare his generation? For he was cut 
off out of the land of the living ; for the transgression 
of my people he was stricken. And he made his 
grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death ; 
because he had done no violence, neither was any 
deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to 
bruise him, he hath put him to grief: when thou 
shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see 
his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure 
of the Lord shall prosper in his hands. He shall see 
of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by 
his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify 
many : for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore 
will I divide him a portion with the great, and he 
shall divide the spoil with the strong ; because he 
poured out his soul unto death, and he was numbered 
with the transgressors, and he bare the sin of many, 
and made intercession for the transgressors.' 

I t is impossible for any one, who is the least ac- 
quainted with the history of Christ, not to perceive 
many circumstances of his life, his sufferings, and 
his death, plainly pointed at in this prophecy ; and 
indeed, so apparently and so completely was it ful- 
filled in Christ, that the later rabbins, to avoid the 
conclusions which the Christians might draw from 

* The margin of the Bible has it, * He was taken away by dis- 
tress and judgment. 1 

13 



150 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



this and other prophecies in favour of the Gospel, 
have invented a distinction of a double Messias.; 
'one* who was to redeem as, and another who was 
to suffer for us ; for they say, that there are two 
several persons promised under the name of the 
Messias; one of the tribe of Ephraim, the other of 
the tribe of Judah ; one the son of Joseph, the other 
the son of David ; the one to precede, fi^ht, and 
suffer death, the other to follow, conquer, reign, and 
never to die.' But Bishop Pearson, from whom I 
have borrowed this remark, has clearly showed this 
distinction to be not only false in itself, but advan- 
tageous to the Christian faith, as admitting" a suffer- 
ing Messias to be foretold by the prophets; and has 
also proved,f that the ancient rabbins did understand 
this fifty-third chapter of Isaiah to be a description 
of the Messias, without any intimation of a double 
Messias, an invention introduced by the modern 
Jews, to f ivour their vain expectations of a temporal 
prince and deliverer. 

For what is farther to be collected out of the other 
prophecies, and especially the Psalms, relating to 
this subject, I cannot do better than to give it to the 
reader in the words of the same Bishop Pearson, 
whose observations upon the spveral articles con- 
cerning the sufferings, &c, of Jesus, I would wish 
him to considpr. 

4 1 All which' [the predictions of his sufferings, and 
particularly this fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, com- 
pared tyith his life 1 4f we look upon in the gross, 
we must acknowledge it fuelled in him [ T esus] to 
the highest degrep imaginable, "that he was a man 
of sorrows, and acquainted with grief." But if we 
compare thp particular predictions with the historical 
passages of his sufferings, if we join the prophets 
and pvano-elists together, it will most manifestly ap- 
pear the Messias was to suffer nothing which Christ 
hath not suffered. If Zachary say (Zach. 11 : 12,) 

* See Pearson on the Creed, p. 185. f Ibid > P- 57 « 

X Pearson on the Creed, p. S8. 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 151 

"Thev weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver ;" 
St. Matthew (Matt. 26:15) will show, that Judas 
sold Jesus at the same r;ite, for the chief priests 
"covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver." 
If Isaiah say (Isa. 53: 5,) "That he was wounded ;" 
if Zachary (Zach. 12 : 10,) " they shall look upon me 
whom they have pierced ;" if the prophet David yet 
more particularly (Ps. 22:16,) "they pierced my 
hands and my feet ;" the evangelists will show how 
he was fastened to the cross, and Jesus himself 
(John 20 : 25,) "the print of the nails." If the Psalm- 
ist tells us, they should (Ps. 22 : 7, 8) "laugh him to 
scorn, and shake their heads, saying, II e trusted in 
the Lord that he would deliver him, let him deliver 
him, seeing he delighted in him ;" &t Matthew will 
describe the same action, and the same expres- 
sions : for (Matt. 27:39, 43) "they that passed by 
reviled him, wagging their heads, and saying, He 
trusted in (iod, let him deliver him now if he will 
have him ; for he said, I am the Son of God." Let 
David say, " My God, my God, why hast thou for- 
saken me ?" and the Son of David will show in 
whose person the Father spoke it, " Eli, Eli, lama 
sabachthani ?" Let Isaiah foretel (1st. 22 : 1 ; Matt. 
27 : 46,) " He was numbered with the transgressors," 
and you shall find him (Mark 15:27) "crucified be- 
tween two thieves, one on his ritrht hand, the other 
on his left." Read in the Psalmist (Ps. 69: 21,) "In 
my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink;" and vou 
shall find in the evange ] ist (John 19:28: Matt. 27: 
48,) "Jesus, that Che Scripture might be fulfilled, 
said, I thirst: and thpy took a sponoe, and filled it 
with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and grave him to 
drink." Read farther yet (Ps. 22 : 18,) " They part 
my garments among them, and cast lots upon my 
vesture :" and to fulfil the prediction, the soldiers 
shnll make good the distinction (John 19:23,24,) 
" Who took his garments,and made four parts,to every 
soldier a part, and also his coat: now the coat, was 
without senrn, woven from the top throughout. They 
said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend 



152 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be." Lastly, 
let the prophets teach us (Isa. 53 : 7, 8,) "that he 
shall be brought like a lamb to the slaughter, and 
be cut off out of the land of the living ;" all the evan- 
gelists will declare how like a lamb he suffered, and 
the very Jews will acknowledge that he was cutoff.' 

These instances, I imagine, are sufficient to show, 
that, according to the prophets, 'thus it behoved 
Christ to suffer, and to die.' That his burial also, 
and his resurrection, were in like manner foretold, 
will appear by the following passages. 

Isaiah, in the above-quoted chapter, ver. 9, speaks 
of his burial in these words, 4 And he made his grave 
with the wicked, and with the rich in his death,' the 
circumstantial accomplishment of which is too re- 
markable not to be taken notice of. 

# The power of life and death had been taken from 
the Jews, and lodged in the hands of the Roman 
governor, from the time that Augustus annexed Ju- 
dea to the province of Syria, which was done some 
years after the birth of Christ. The chief priests, 
therefore, and rulers of the Jews, were obliged to 
apply to Pontius Pilate, not only to put Jesus to 
death, but for leave to take down his body and those 
of the two malefactors executed with him, 1 that they 
might not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day.' 
For among; the Romans (with whom crucifixion was 
the usual capital punishment for slaves, robbers, 
&c, under the degree of Roman citizens,) it was 
customary to let the carcass hang on the cross till it 
was either consumed by time, or devoured by birds 
and beasts. Upon a petition, however, of the exe- 
cuted person's friends or relations, leave to bury 
them was seldom or never refused ; and hence Pilate 
without any difficulty yielded to the application of 
the Jews for taking down the bodies, and gave per- 
mission to Joseph of Arimathea to bury that of Jesus. 
What became of the bodies of the two thieves after 
they were taken down from the cross is not men- 



* gee Pearson on the Creed, Article iy. 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



153 



tioned by any of the evangelists. That they were 
buried is almost certain ; because not only the cus- 
tom of the Jews, but the express words of Moses 
(Deut. 21 : 22, 23) required, * If a man have commit- 
ted a sin worthy of death, and he be put to death, 
and thou hang him on a tree, his body shall not re- 
main all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any- 
wise bury him that day, that thy land be not defjleaV 
Which precept was doubtless the reason of their 
petitioning Pilate to have the bodies taken from the 
cross that day, enforced by the additional consider- 
ation of the particular solemnity and sanctity of the 
paschal sabbath then immediately ensuing. And 
that they were buried in or near the place of cruci- 
fixion is, I think, most probable, for the following 
reasons, First, The place where they were execut- 
ed was called Golgotha, that is (Matt. 27 : 33,) 'a 
place of a skull,' a name in all likelihood derived to 
it from the number of skulls, which (if it was the 
usual place of execution, as from this instance it is 
most reasonable to conclude it was,) might frequently 
have been found there, either fallen from bodies left 
to putrify on the cross, or turned up by the opening 
the ground for such malefactors as the governor 
permitted to be buried. Secondly, The paschal 
sabbath* was drawing on apace. For as among 
the Jews the day was always reckoned to com- 
mence from the evening, so, for the greater cau- 
tion, were they accustomed to begin the sabbatical 
rest from all kind of work an hour before sunset; 
but on this day, which was the preparation of the 
passover, the holy hours (if I may so speak) began 
still earlier ; because the paschal lambsf were al- 
ways slain between the ninth and eleventh hours, 
within which sp^ce of time the . whole multitude of 
Jews repaired to the temple,:); where alone the pass- 
over was killed, and having there offered the blood 
and entrails of the paschal victims, they brought 

* Crotius, ad ver, 58, xxvli. Matt. | ^id, xxvi. Matt. 2. 

| Lama Dissert, de Pasch. 



154 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



back the remaining" carcass, to dress and eat it at 
their own homes, according to the Mosaical institu- 
tion. The Jews could not then but be much pressed 
in time, for the ninth hour was begun before our 
Saviour expired, and the soldiers coming after that 
time to the two malefactors, found them not yet 
dead ; and therefore by a cruel kind of mercy, to put 
an end to a painful life, and to despatch them the 
more speedily, broke their legs, the coup de grace 
obtained for those miserable wretches of the Roman 

fovernor by the Jews, and intended likewise for 
im, who, though innocent, and delivered up by their 
malice to that inf imous and horrid death, yet, with a 
benevolence and generosity unparalleled, interceded 
for them even upon the cross, in these compassionate 
terms (Luke 23:34,) 'Father, forgive them, for they 
know not what they do!' Now as Jesus, and con- 
sequently the two thieves, did not expire till after 
the ninth hour, as the Jews were obliged to repair 
to the temp^ before the eleventh hour, at the expi- 
ration of which the sabbatical rest from all kinds of 
work began ; and as they were solicitous that the 
bodies should be taken down and buried before the 
commencement of that high and solemn day ; it is 
most likely they buried them at or near the place 
"where they were crucified, because they had not 
time to carry them to any great distance ; because 
Golgotha, from its name, seems to have been a place 
of burial for those who had been executed there ; 
and because the want of time is the very reason 
given in the evano-plist for laying the body of Jesus 
in the sepulchre of Joseph of Arinmthea. which was 
near adjoining, as St. John tells us in these words 
(19:41, 42,) 4 Now in the place whpre he was cruci- 
fied there was a garden, and in this garden a new 
sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. There 
laid they Jesus, therefore, because of the Jews' pre* 
paration, for the sepulchre was nigh at hand.' Here 
then we may see and admire the exact completion 
of this famous prophecy of Isaiah: 'He mule his 
grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death,* 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



155 



He was buried like the wicked companions of his 
death under the general leave granted to the Jews 
for taking down their bodies from the cross; and 
was like them buried in or near the place of execu- 
tion. But here the distinction foreseen and foretold 
many hundred years before took place in favour of 
Jesus, who, though 4 numbered with the transgres- 
sors, had done no violence, neither was there any 
deceit in his mouth.' For Joseph of Arimathea 
(Matt. 27 : 51,) 4 a rich man, and an honourable coun- 
sellor' (Mark '5 : 43,) ' and Nicodemus, a man of the 
Pharisees, a ruler of the Jews, a master of Israel,' 
conspired (Isa. 31 : 10, 19, 39, 40) to make his grave 
with the rich, by wrapoing his body in linen cloths, 
with a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred 
pounds weight, and laying it in a new sepulchre 
hewed or hollowed into a rock, which Joseph of 
Arimathea had caused to be made for his own i;se; 
circumstances which evidently show, that he was 
not only buried by the rich, but like the rich also, 
according to the prophecy. 

The words of David (Ps. 16 : 8, &c.) foretelling 
the resurrection of Christ, together with St. Peter's 
comment upon them, I shall insert entire as they 
et' t >nd in the second chapter of the Acts, the 25th 
and following verses. 

*For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw 
the Lord always before my face ; for he is on my 
right hand, that I should not be moved : Therefore 
did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; 
moreover, also, my flesh shall rest in hope, because 
thnu wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou 
suffer thy Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast 
made known to me the ways of life : Thou hast 
made me full of joy with thy countenance. Men 
and brethren, let me freely speak to you of the pa- 
triarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and 
his sepulchre is with us to this day ; therefore being 
a prophet, and knowing* that God had sworn with an 
oath to him. that of the fruit of his loins, according 
to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit upon his 



156 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



throne ; he seeing this before, spake of the resur- 
rection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, 
neither his flesh did see corruption.' 

The apostle's reasoning was very well understood 
by the Jews, and so convincing, that (Acts 2: 41) 
* three thousand souls were that day added to the 
church,' and baptized into the faith of Christ. His 
argument stands thus: — You acknowledge David 
to "be a prophet, who, under his own person, often 
spake of the Messiah. To the Messiah, therefore, 
belong these words : 1 Thou shalt not leave my soul 
[life] in hell [hades, the grave] ; neither shalt thou 
suffer thy Holy One to see corruption ; (Ps. 16 : 8,*) 
because they are by no means applicable to David, 
who it is not pretended ever rose from the dead ; on 
the contrary, he was buried, and his body remained 
and putrified in Ins sepulchre, which 4 is with us even 
to this day.' But by divine illumination he foresaw 
that the Messiah, or Christ, who, ' according to the 
flesh,' was to descend from him, should be raised up 
from the dead, to 'sit upon his throne,' that is, to 
reign like him over his people ; and, therefore, he 
foretold the resurrection of Christ in words most 
exactly fulfilled in Jesus, who rose alive out of the 
grave in so short a time after his death, that ' he saw 
no corruption, whereof,' adds he, ' we are witnesses.' 

Concerning these words no other question can be 
raised, than whether they relate to the Messiah ; for 
to David, most certainly, they can never be applied. 
If they relate to the Messiah, then was Jesus the 
Messiah, for in his resurrection were they accom- 
plished;, and doubtless the three thousand Jews, 
who were converted by the preaching of Peter, ac- 
knowledged both the one and the other of those 
propositions. And, indeed, by the manner in which 
these words of the Psalmist were urged by St. Peter, 
and afterwards by St. Paul (Acts 13:35,) it seems 
to have been by them taken for granted, that as they 
were not applicable to David, they must be under- 

* See Whitby on this passage. 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



157 



stood of the Messiah, whom, therefore, according to 
Moses, the prophets, and the Psalmist, it behoved to 
surfer, to die, to be buried, and to rise again from 
the dead, as the several passages above-cited clearly 
show. 

Besides the express words of prophecy, there were 
several predictions of another kind, of the sufferings, 
death, and resurrection of Christ, held forth in types 
and figures ; such as those two mentioned by our 
Saviour, and applied to himself: 'As Moses,' says 
he, 'lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so 
must the Son of Man be lifted up.' (John 3:4; 
Numb. 21:9; Matt. 12 : 48 ; Jonah 1 : 17, and 2:10; 
1 Cor. 5 : 7.) And again, 1 As Jonas was three days 
and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the 
Son of Man be three days and three nights in the 
heart of the earth.'* The Paschal Lamb, alluded to 
by St. Paul in these words, 4 Christ our passover is 
slain ;' the waved sheaf alluded to, in like manner, 
by the same apostle (] Cor. J5:20 — 23; Rom. 11 % 
16,) and many others. I shaJl not here inquire how 
far, and in what cases, an argument from types and 
figures may be admitted, but shall content myself 
with quoting a passage relating to this point out of 
the incomparable discourses of Bishop Sherlock upon 
prophecy,} as follows : — 

4 Another question, proper to be considered, with 
respect to the state of religion under the Jewish 
dispensation, is this : How far the religion of the 
Jews was preparatory to that new dispensation, 
which was in due time to be revealed, in accom- 
plishment of the promise made to all nations. Now 
if Abraham and his posterity were chosen, not mere- 
ly for their own sakes, or out of any partial views 
and regards towards them, but to be instruments in 
the hand of God for bringing about his great designs 
in the world ; if the temporal government was given 
for the sake of the everlasting covenant, and to be 

* See Lamy's Diss, de Pasc. and Pearson upon the Creed, 
t Pa^e 144. 



158 HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



subservient to the introduction of it, it is highly 
probable, that all the parts of the Jewish dispensa- 
tion were adapted to serve the same end : and that 
the law founded on the temporal covenant was in- 
tended, as the temporal covenant itself was, to pre- 
pare the way to better promises. If this, upon the 
whole, appears to be a reasonable supposition, then 
have we a foundation to inquire into the meaning of 
the law, not merely as it is a literal command to the 
Jews, but as containing the figure and image of 
good things to come. It can hardly be supposed, 
that God, intending finally to save the world by 
Christ, and the preaching of the Gospel, should give 
an intermediate law ; which had no respect nor re- 
lation to the covenant, which he intended to establish 
forever. And whoever will be at the pains to con- 
sider seriously the whole administration of Provi- 
dence together, from the beginning to the end, may 
see, perhaps, more reason than he imagines, to allow 
of types and figures in the Jewish law. 

'To proceed, then : The Jewish dispensation not 
conveying to "all nations*' the blessing promised 
through Abraham's seed, but being only the admin- 
istration of the hopes and expectations, created by 
the promise of God ; in this respect it stood entirely 
upon the word of prophecy ; for future hopes and 
expectations from God can have no other real foun- 
dation. Inasmuch, then, as the Jewish religion did 
virtually contain the hopes of the Gospel, the religion 
itself was a prophecy,' &c. 

That the Jewish rabbins, and the fathers of the 
Christian church, as well as our Saviour and his 
apostles, understood many things in the law of Mo- 
ses, in the historical books of the Old Testament, in 
the prophets and the psalms, to be types and shadows 
of things to come, is very certain ; and if the two 
former carried their conceits upon this head farther 
than reason or sense could allow them to do, types 
and figures are not upon that pretence to be wholly 
rejected ; especially as many precepts and ceremo- 
nies in the Mosaic institution may very well be ac- 



OF ¥h£ RESURRECTION. 159 



counted for by supposing them intended as images 
and shadows of things to come, and can but ill be 
reconciled to the wisdom of fche lawgiver without 
such a solution. And if such types be once admit- 
ted, it will be no difficult matter to show that they 
were fulfilled in Christ Jesus, as the great antitype 
to which they all referred. 



SECTION XIX. 

Characteristics of the Prophecies relating to the Re* 
deemer, and his Resurrection from the dead. 

Whoever takes an attentive view of the predic- 
tions relating to the Messiah,* contained in the 
writings of Moses, the prophets, and the Psalmist, 
will perceive the great scheme of Providence in the 
deliverance of mankind from the power of sin and 
death, opening by degrees in a succession of proph- 
ecies through the several ages of the world : each 
of which, in proportion as the accomplishment of the 
wonderful and gracious purpose of God advanced, 
grew more explicit and particular ; till they came 
at last to point at the very times and person of the 
expected deliverer. Thus the promise of redemption 
to mankind, which was given to our first parents in 
very general and obscure words, 4 The seed of the 
woman shall bruise the serpent's head,' (Gen. 3 : 15,) 
importing, that some of their descendants should van- 
quish their great enemy, was renewed to Abraham 
in clearer terms, and limited to his descendants 
through Isaac, ' In thy seed shall all the nations of 
the earth be blessed' (Gen. 22 : 18 ; 27 : 29 ; 49 : 1) ; 

* See Bishop Sherlock's Discourse on the use and intent of 
Prophecy, &c. 



160 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



then to Jacob, the younger of the two sons of Isaac ; 
and afterwards to Judah and his children ; and lastly, 
to the family of David (2 Sam. 1 : 12,) who was of 
the tribe of Judah. The particular stock, from which 
the branch of righteousness and immortality was to 
proceed, being thus limited and settled, God was 
pleased, in the next place, to bring into a nearer and 
more distinct view, the long-promised seed ; declar- 
ing by his prophets the precise time of his coming, 
the place, and miraculous manner of his birth, and 
so many wonderful particulars of his life, his suffer- 
ings, and his death ; that by such characteristical 
marks and notices he might, when he should come, 
be readily and plainly known. These prophecies, 
some of them at least, were not only at the time of 
their delivery, but even to that of their accomplish- 
ment, very dark and obscure ; but that obscurity 
proceeded not so much from the terms in which they 
were expressed, as from the things foretold ; which 
were so seemingly inconsistent, that no human wis- 
dom could reconcile them with each other. For as 
they sometimes represented the Messiah under the 
character of a deliverer, a 4 Prince whose throne 
should endure forever, the desire of all nations, the 
Holy One,' &c, so at other times they spake of him 
as a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief,' as 
* despised and rejected of men ;' as afflicted, smit- 
ten, wounded, bruised, and scourged ; numbered 
with the transgressors, cut off out of the land of the 
living, and making his grave with the wicked,' and 
yet 1 with the rich in his death.' So much, however, 
of these prophecies was at all times clear, that from 
them the Jews, to whom they were delivered, were 
encouraged to expect a Redeemer to come at a cer- 
tain limited time ; and so exactly were they able to 
compute the period prefixed by the prophet Daniel, 
that at the birth of Christ there was a general ex- 
pectation among the Jews, which from them spread 
into other nations, of a great king being about that 
time to be born in Judea. The place also of his 
birth, and the stock from which he was to spring 



OF 



THE 



RESURRECTION. 



161 



were as clearly understood. But the Jews, too 
much attached to the temporal covenant, proud of 
being the chosen and peculiar people of God, and 
from that pride not comprehending" the full extent 
of the promise made to Abraham, that ' in his seed 
all the nations of the earth should be blessed,' ex- 
pected a temporal deliver, a king of the Jews only, 
considered still as a separate and distinct nation. 
The Jews, they imagined, were alone to be redeem- 
ed, and that from their temporal enemies, and under 
their Messiah were to reign forever over the other 
kings and nations of the earth. And from this im- 
agination, than which nothing could be more con- 
trary to the express promises made to Abraham, nor 
more injurious to the character of that God, 4 whose 
mercy is' universally 'over all his works,' proceeded 
their blindness and backwardness in seeing and be- 
lieving all that the prophets had spoken, and their 
indignation against Jesus, for assuming the title 
without asserting, what they esteemed to be, the 
kingdom of the Messiah, the throne of David. With 
the same prejudices were the disciples and apostles 
themselves so strongly prepossessed, that when he 
told them of his sufferings and death, 4 Peter rebuked 
him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord ; this shall not 
be unto thee.' (Matt. 16 : 22.) Jesus, however, suf- 
fered and died, and rose again from the dead, as he 
had foretold ; and notwithstanding his sufferings, 
still claimed to be the Messiah, nay, and even founded 
his claim upon those very sufferings, asserting, that 
according to the prophets, 'thus it behoved the 
Messiah to suffer.' To the prophets, therefore, he 
sends them for their conviction, and for the remov- 
ing those prejudices, which, as long as they sub- 
sisted, must have kept them effectually from ever 
acknowledging his claim, unless they would re- 
nounce those Scriptures upon whose authority alone 
their expectations of a Messiah were grounded. For 
if the prophets spake only of a victorious triumphant 
Redeemer of Israel, a king who should never die, it 
is certain Jesus could not be that Redeemer ; for he 



162 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



was oppressed and afflicted, and instead of delivering" 
the Jews, was himself delivered up to their enemies, 
and by them put to death. What the prophets have 
written about the sufferings, &c, of the Messiah, 
we have just now seen; and cannot, I think, but 
acknowledge their predictions to be very clear and 
express, and to have been most circumstantially ac- 
complished in Christ Jesus ; and perhaps to us, who 
are not blinded with the vain imaginations of the 
Jews, it may seem matter of wonder that the apos- 
tles should so long and so obstinately shut their eyes 
against so strong a light. The truth is, they were 
unwilling to give up the pleasing and flattering ex- 
pections of a temporal kingdom, which they under- 
stood to be plainly spoken of by the prophets, and 
knew to be incompatible with a suffering, dying- 
Messiah. By ' expounding,' therefore, ' in Moses 
and all the prophets the things concerning himself,' 
and 'by opening their understandings, that they 
might understand the Scripture,' Jesus at length 
brought them to perceive, that the kingdom of the 
Messiah was not a temporal, but a spiritual and 
eternal kingdom ; that the redemption promised to 
Adam and the patriarchs was not the redemption of 
the children of Israel only from their carnal enemies 
and oppressors (an event in which the first Father 
of the world, and even the patriarchs themselves, 
could have little or no interest,) but the redemption 
of all mankind from the power and penalty of sin ; 
to be effected on the one hand by 4 Christ's* fulfilling 
all righteousness,' the original covenant, upon which 
happiness and immortality was stipulated to Adam ; 
and on the other, by his 'offering up his soul a sac- 
rifice for sin,' that is, paying the penalty of death, 
which all sinners, all mankind had incurred ; paying 
it not as a debtor, 'for he was without sin, but as a 
surety, who willingly and freely took upon himself 
to make good the failings and discharge the obliga- 
tions of others. Of this plan the death of Christ was 
a necessary part, and so was his resurrection from 
the dead \ by which, having vanquished that enemy, 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



163 



who brought death and sin into the world, he was 
put into possession of that throne, which was 6 to 
endure forever;' and was, like David, appointed by 
God to reign, not over the Jewish nation, exclusive 
of the rest of mankind, but over all those of every 
nation of the world, who should, like the Jews, make 
themselves the people of God, by entering into a 
covenant with him to keep his commandments ; the 
sole tenure by which the children of Israel became 



God, their legal, their constitutional king, if 1 may so 
speak, set David as a ruler under him, and promised 
to continue that delegated vicarical sceptre of righ- 
teousness in his posterity forever. Of all these 
points there are frequent intimations in the books of 
Moses, in the prophets, and in the psalms. By a 
fair and unprejudiced examination of which, the dis- 
ciples and apostles might be certainly convinced, 
that, according to the scheme of the redemption of 
mankind promised to Adam and the patriarchs, as 
well as by the express word of prophecy, the Mes- 
siah was to die and to rise again from the dead. 
And as on the one part, had the Scriptures been si- 
lent upon the latter of these two articles, they had, 
from the testimony of their own senses, &c, suffi- 
cient proof of Christ's being risen from the dead ; so 
on the other, from the exact accomplishment of all 
the predictions relating to his life, his sufferings, his 
death and burial, they might, without any farther 
evidence, than that of his body's being nowhere to 
be found, have infallibly collected from the Scriptures 
only, that he was risen from the dead. And, there- 
fore, when all these testimonies concurred to prove 
the resurrection, how was it possible for them to 
withhold their assent ? 

The prophecies of Jesus himself, concerning his 
rising from the dead on the third day, were another 
proof of the same kind, upon which they might as 
reasonably and as certainly depend, as upon that 
grounded on the predictions of Moses and the proph- 
ets, Moses had foretold that the Messiah should be 




over whom, as such, 



J64 HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



a prophet, and they had been convinced that Jesus 
was one in the largest sense of that word, by many 
instances, which had fallen under their own obser- 
vation, those particularly relating to his passion and 
crucifixion, most of the minute and extraordinary 
circumstances of which he had acquainted them with 
before they came to pass : such as the treachery of 
Judas, the desertion of his disciples, Peter's disown- 
ing him thrice, the insults and abuses he underwent 
from the chief priests and elders, and the cruel 
mockery of the Roman soldiers. The exact corres- 
pondence of each of these events with their several 
predictions, afforded the strongest presumption im- 
aginable in favour of the resurrection, as it was in 
like manner foretold by him, of whose prescience 
they had just then received so many convincing 
proofs ; especially as some of the predicted events 
were of such a nature as not to be foreseen, but by 
that eye, which penetrates into the inmost recesses 
of the heart of man, and spieth out all his thoughts 
even before they are conceived. For although the 
chief priests and pharisees ha d for some time i sought 
how they might put him to death' (Matt. 26 : 5,) yet 
they hadi resolved against doing it on the feast-day 
'for fear of the people' (Mark 11:8, 9,) who but a 
very few days before had in a sort of triumphal pro- 
cession attended his entry into Jerusalem, 'cutting 
down branches of palm, strewing them before him, 
- spreading their garments in the way, and crying, 
Hosanna, blessed is he that cometh in the name of 
the Lord.' Yet on the feast-day was he to be put to 
death, at the instance of the chief priests and phari- 
sees ; and by the clamours of this very people, 
against the inclination and endeavours of Pilate, in 
whom the power of life and death resided ; and M 7 ho, 
as his judge, declared him innocent, ag-ain and again ; 
and when he gave him up to be crucified (Matt. 27: 
24,) 'took water and washed his hands before the 
multitude, saying, 1 am innocent of the blood of this 
just person; see ye to it.' This sudden change in 
the counsels of the chief priests, in the hearts of the 



OP THE RESURRECTION. 



165 



multitude, and in the mariners of Pontius Pilate,* 
who was a man of a haughty, rough, untractable 
spirit, who, so far from having any complaisance for 
the Jewish nation, or regard for their customs or 
religion, had all along treated them with the most 
cruel and tyrannical insolence, and who more than 
once had contemptuously acted in direct opposition 
to their most just and reasonable demands ; a change, 
I say, so sudden, from one extreme to another, could 
not with any certainty be previously deduced from 
the consideration of the instability of human coun- 
sels, and the fickleness of the mind of man. The 
same thing may be said concerning the desertion of 
his disciples, and Peter's disowning him thrice, each 
of which events came to pass within a few hours 
after they were foretold, and within the very time 
prefixed ; contrary to their own express and confi- 
dent declarations, that though they (Matt. 26:35) 
'should die with him, they would never deny [re- 
nounce] him,' made at the time and upon the occa- 
sion of this very prophecy. Add to this the inhuman 
abuses, insults, and mockery he endured from the 
chief priests, and from the Roman soldiers ; for 
these, surely, were no usual part of the punishment 
inflicted upon criminals ; the most flagitious of whom 
are seldom treated with more severity than their 
sentence requires ; especially when that sentence 
extends to taking away their lives by a lingering 
and painful death. And our Saviour's case, un- 
doubtedly, deserved more than ordinary compassion, 
especially from the Roman soldiers, as he had been 
pronounced innocent by the Roman governor him- 
self, and was known to be sacrificed only to the envy 
and malice of the Jews. Therefore that Jesus, who 
foretold all these extraordinary particulars, was en- 
dued with the all-prescient Spirit of God, the disci- 
ples could have no reason to doubt ; and consequent- 
ly could have as little cause to call his resurrection 
in question, which he had foreseen and foretold by 



* Pearson on the Creed, p. 196. 



166 HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



the same divine Spirit, from whom no event, how 
remote or uncommon soever, can be concealed, and 
who can never deceive or lie. And therefore the 
apostles, even without the testimony of those who 
had seen him after he was risen, without the author- 
ity of the Scriptures, foretelling his resurrection, and 
without the infallible proofs of his being alive after 
his passion, which they themselves received from 
seeing him, handling him, and conversing with him, 
might and ought to have believed that he was risen 
from the dead, upon the single evidence of his hav- 
ing predicted it, joined to that of his body's being 
nowhere to be found ; as St. John, in fact did, and 
was therefore pronounced blessed by our Saviour 
himself, in these words, spoken to St. Thomas upon 
the occasion of his refusing to believe without the 
attestation of his senses ; 1 Thomas, because thou 
hast seen me, thou hast believed; blessed are they 
who have not seen, and yet have believed.' Upon 
which, more hereafter. 

I shall here rest the cause, and close the evidence 
of the resurrection of Jesus : since it is manifest, 
that the apostles, who were to be witnesses of this 
great event, and preachers of the Gospel to all the 
world, had no doubt or scruple left concerning his 
being really (that is, bodily) risen from the dead, 
after his appearing to St. Thomas (Matt. 28 : 16, 17,) 
for they went into Galilee, 'to a mountain where 
Jesus had appointed them,' in obedience to his com- 
mand, and in expectation of meeting him there, ac- 
cording to his promise, 4 where, when they saw him, 
they worshipped him from thence they returned 
again to Jerusalem, and continued in that city in 
obedience to another (Acts 1:4; 2:4) command, 
4 waiting for the promise of the Father,' which within 
a few days after was made good to them by the 
coming of the Holy Ghost. Upon these two points 
I beg leave to say a few words, for the better under- 
standing some passages relating to them in St. Mat- 
thew, St, Luke ? and the Acts of the Apostles, 



I 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



167 



SECTION XX. 

Appearances of Christ in Galilee, after his Resur- 
rection. 

All the males among the Jews were, by the law 
of Moses (Ex. 33 : 17; Deut. J 6 : 16,) commanded to 
repair thrice every year to Jerusalem, ' to appear/ 
as it is expressed, 6 before the Lord ;' viz : at the 
three great feasts ; the passover, called also the 
feast of unleaven bread, the feast of weeks, named 
Pentecost, and the feast of tabernacles. Each of 
these solemnities lasted a whole week. The apos- 
tles, therefore, and disciples, who had come up to 
Jerusalem from Galilee, their native country, not 
merely to attend upon their Master, but in obedience 
to the above-cited law of Moses, to keep the pass- 
over, continued, as they were obliged to do, at Je- 
rusalem, till the end of that festival. And there 
Jesus appeared to them a second time, eight days 
after his first appearance (John 20 : 26,) St. Thomas 
being with them. The next appearance of Christ to 
any number of his disciples together was at the sea 
of Tiberias, called also the sea of Galilee ; and this 
is expressly said, by St. John, 'to be the third time 
that Jesus showed himself to his disciples, after that 
he was risen from the dead' (John 21 : 24,) from 
whence it is evident, that the appearance on a 
mountain, in Galilee, mentioned by St. Matthew, 
was subsequent to this spoken of by St. John, and 
was also in a different place, on a mountain, whereas 
the latter was by the sea of Tiberias. Three rea- 
sons may be assigned for our Saviour's meeting his 
disciples in Galilee. Galilee was the country in 
which he had resided above thirty years, from his 
infancy to the time when he first began to preach 
the kingdom of God. There did he first begin to 



168 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



declare and evidence his mission by miracles, and 
in the cities of that region did he perform the great- 
est part of his mighty works ; so that he must nec- 
essarily have been more known, and have had more 
followers in that country, than in any other region 
of Judea. And, therefore, one reason for his show- 
ing himself to Galilee, after he was risen from the 
dead seems to have been, that, where he was per- 
sonally known to so many people, he might have the 
greater number of competent witnesses to his res- 
urrection. Accordingly, St. Paul tells us that he was 
seen of above five hundred brethren at once, which, 
therefore, in all probability, happened at the moun- 
tain in Galilee, where St. Matthew says Jesus ap- 
pointed his disciples to meet him, as I have observed 
once before. Secondly, Galilee was also the native 
country of the greatest part, if not of all, his apos- 
tles and disciples. There they dwelt and supported 
themselves and families, some of them at least, by 
mean and laborious occupations. So strait and so 
necessitous a condition of life must needs have ren- 
dered a long absence from their own homes highly 
inconvenient to them, at that time especially, when 
the barley-harvest, which always fell out about the 
time of the passover, was either begun, or upon the 
point of beginning. As soon therefore as the pas- 
chal solemnity was over, which detained them nec- 
essarily at Jerusalem for a whole week, it was natural 
to suppose that they would return into Galilee. 
Upon which supposition, our Saviour, before his 
death, promised, after he was risen, 4 he would go 
before them into Galilee which remarkable ex- 
pression was again made (Matt. 28: 7) use of by the 
angel after his resurrection ; who bade the women 
tell his disciples, that he, Jesus, 4 would go before 
them into Galilee,' that is, would be in Galilee before 
them, and would meet them there. Christ indeed, 
afterwards, commands them, by the same women, 
to go into Galilee, adding a promise, that they should 
see him. But this command must not be understood 
to imply a suspicion, that without these peremptory 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 169 

orders of their Master they would have continued at 
Jerusalem, where, after the festival was over, they 
had nothing to do. It ought rather to be taken as a 
confirmation of his promise of meeting them in Gali- 
lee, and a strong encouragement to them to depend 
upon the performance of it in the due place and 
season. The time of their entering upon the apos- 
tolical office, of preaching the Gospel to all the 
world, was not yet come ; neither were they yet 
fully prepared or qualified for that important work ; 
which, after they had once undertaken it, was to be 
not only the sole employment of their lives, but the 
occasion of their leaving their fathers, their children, 
their country, and their friends, to travel up and 
down the world, exposed to hardships, dangers, per- 
secution, and death, in unknown and remote corners 
of the earth. Of all which their Master had fre- 
quently forewarned them before his death, and par- 
ticularly in that affectionate discourse he held to 
them the night in which he was betrayed. To pre- 
pare them therefore by degrees for a state of so 
much affliction and mortification, and to give them 
an opportunity of seeing and providing, in the best 
manner they were able, for their relations and fam- 
ilies, to whom they were soon to bid adieu forever ; 
their gracious Lord, who knew how to indulge, be- 
cause he had himself felt, the affections and infirmi- 
ties of human nature; and who (John 19:26, 27,) 
by recommending his mother, even from the cross, 
to the care of his beloved disciple, had taught them 
what regards were due to those tender ties of nature, 
not only permitted them to return into Galilee, but 
promised to meet them there, and did in fact meet 
them there, not only once, but several times ; as 
may be inferred from what St. Luke says of his hav- 
ing shown himself to them (Acts 1) 'for forty days 
after his passion,' compared with what St. John says 
of the appearance by the lake of Tiberias, which he 
expressly calls the third time that Christ showed 
himself to his disciples after his resurrection. After 
this, St. Matthew speaks of another appearance in 



1?0 HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 

Galilee, on * a mountain,' where, adds he, 4 Jesus had 
appointed his disciples.' When this appointment 
was made, there is no intimation given in any of the 
evangelists. If it was not at the appearance at the 
lake of Tiberias, which there is no reason to imagine 
it was, St. John saying nothing of any such matter, 
it was probably at some other appearance in Galilee, 
between this last and that mentioned by St. Matthew. 
And as there was a great number of brethren pre- 
sent upon that occasion, it is rational to conclude, 
that timely notice was given, as well of the day, as 
of the place of meeting. But however this might 
have been, I am persuaded, that the greatest part of 
the appearances of Christ for the forty days after his 
passion were in Galilee, since the reasons that re- 
quired the apostles to return thither, were as strong 
for their continuing there, till the approach of the 
feast of weeks or Pentecost should call them back 
to Jerusalem. 

Another reason for meeting his disciples in Gali- 
lee, and for concluding that the appearances men- 
tioned in the Acts were chiefly in that country, and 
that there were many of them, may be deduced from 
what (Acts 1 : 3) St. Luke tells us of the subjects 
upon which our Saviour spoke to his disciples on 
these occasions, viz : 4 Of things pertaining to the 
kingdom of God,' Before they set out upon the 
great work of preaching the kingdom of God to all 
the world, it was necessary that they should be 
fully instructed in the doctrines they were to preach, 
and in the several functions of the apostolical office ; 
that they should thoroughly understand the inten- 
tions of their Master, and have some view of the 
means and assistances by which they should be en- 
abled to perform a task so apparently above their 
abilities, and some hopes and encouragements to 
support them under the prospect of those difficulties 
and dangers they were given to expect in propagat- 
ing the Gospel. In order to all this, many inveterate 
prejudices relating to the law of Moses and the 
Jewish nation were to be rooted out; the scheme of 



Of TliE RESURRECTION. 1^1 

God in the universal redemption of mankind was to 
be laid open to them ; many human affections, re- 
luctances, and terrors, were to be subdued, and their 
hearts to be fortified with courage and constancy, a 
disregard and contempt of hardships, perils, pain, 
and death. To these several purposes nothing could 
more conduce than frequent visits from their Lord ; 
whose resurrection (of which every appearance was 
a fresh proof) was an unquestionable evidence of his 
power; whose every appearance was an instance of 
his afTection and condescension to them, and of his 
fidelity in performing the promise he had made be- 
fore his passion, of coming to them again after his 
death, and being with them for a 'little while before 
he went to his Father ;' and whose fidelity and ex- 
actness in thus performing his promise was an infal- 
lible earnest and security for the coming of that 
Comforter who was to supply his place, 'to guide 
them into all truth, to bring to their remembrance 
whatever he had spoken to them, to enable them to 
do greater works than he had done,' and to fill their 
hearts 'with that joy, which it should not be in the 
power of man to take from them.' Add to this the 
weight and authority derived to his precepts and in- 
structions, from their being delivered by himself in 
person ; and the great measure of strength accruing 
to their faith, from their having frequently before 
their eyes the ' Captain of their salvation,' who after 
having fought with the powers of darkness, and tri- 
umphed over sin and death, was to ' sit down thence- 
forth at the right hand of God,' invested with the 
power of assisting those, who should fight under his 
banner, and rewarding their toils, their sufferings, 
and their death, with a crown of immortal life. And 
if nothing could more effectually bring about all 
these great effects than Christ's frequently meeting 
his apostles, it will evidently appear, that no place 
could be more proper for those meetings than Gali- 
lee ; if we consider, that the apostles having their 
habitation in that country, might reside there without 
any suspicion, and assemble'without any fear of the 



172 HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



persecutors and murderers of their Master, the 
chief priests and the Roman governor (Luke 23: 7.) 
For Galilee was under the jurisdiction of Herod. 
Whereas, had they remained in Jerusalem, and 
continued to assemble frequently together, while 
the report of their Master's being risen from the 
dead was fresh, and in every body's mouth, the chief 
priests and elders, whose hatred or apprehensions of 
Jesus Christ were not extinguished by his blood, as 
appears by their persecuting and murdering his fol- 
lowers long after ; these rulers of the Jews, I say, 
would undoubtedly have given such interruptions to 
those meetings, and thrown such obstacles in the 
way, as must have necessitated our Lord to interpose 
his miraculous power to prevent or remove thorn. 
Now as all these inconveniences might be avoided 
by our Saviour's meeting his disciples in Galilee, it 
is more agreeable to the wisdom of God (which, as 
Mr. Locke observes,* ' is not usually at the expense 
of miracles, but only in cases that require them') to 
suppose these frequent meetings to have been in 
Galilee, rather than in Jerusalem, and more analo- 
gous to the proceeding of our Lord himself, who, 
being in danger from the scribes and pharisees, re- 
frained from appearing publicly in Jerusalem for 
some time before the hour appointed for his suffer- 
ings and death was come, and 'walked in Galilee,' 
as St. John (7 : 1) tells us, ' for he would not walk in 
Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill him.' From 
these considerations I think it clear, that all the ap- 
pearances of Christ to his disciples, from that to St. 
Thomas mentioned in St. John, to that last in Jeru- 
salem, on the day of his ascending, mentioned by 
St. Luke, both in his Gospel and in the Acts, were 
in Galilee. From whence, when the apostles re- 
turned afterwards to Jerusalem, they were covered 
from the apprehension of giving any umbrage by 
residing there, for the short space to come between 
their return and the time of their entering upon their 

* Reasonab. of Christian, p. 508, fol. edit. 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



ITS 



apostolical office, by the obligation they were under? 
in common with the rest of their brethren, the Jews ? 
to repair to that city for the celebration of the feast 
of (Acts 2 : 1, &c.) weeks, called also Pentecost. 
Upon the most solemn day of which festival they 
were, according to the promise of their Master, filled 
with the Holy Ghost, and endued with power from 
above, to defy all danger, and surmount all opposi- 
tion in preaching the Gospel of Christ. 

And hence we learn, that all the latter part of the 
24th chapter of St. Luke's Gospel, from the 49th 
verse to the end inclusive, relates to what happened 
at Jerusalem, &c, after the return of the apostles 
from Galilee. Of whose departure into Galilee after 
the resurrection of Christ, or of his promise of going 
thither before them, this evangelist having not 
thought it to his purpose to make any mention, 
thoug-ht it as needless to say any thing of their leav- 
ing Jerusalem ; since the scene of the last appear- 
ance, as well as of the former related by him, was 
in that city ; and since to those, who by any other 
means should come to be acquainted with the whole 
history of our Saviour, there would be no danger of 
confounding those two appearances. As to those who 
should happen to meet with no other account but his 
Gospel (if such a thing could be supposed,) no great 
damage could arise from their mistaking them to be 
one and the same. 



SECTION XXL 

Reasons for the repeated Appearances of Christ after 
his Rising from the dead. 

By this long and scrupulous examination of the 
several particulars, which constitute the evidences 
of the resurrection, I have endeavoured to show, 
15 



174 HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



that never were there any facts that could better 
abide the test. And if I have in any degree succeed* 
ed in my endeavours, I shall neither repent my own 
labour, nor apologize to the reader for having dwelt 
so long upon this subject Since the conclusion 
that will inevitably follow from the proposition is, 
that never was there a fact more fully proved than 
the resurrection of Jesus Christ. jFor besides the 
testimony of some, who may be supposed to have no 
prejudices either for or against the resurrection, I 
mean the Roman soldiers, who reported that his 
sepulchre was miraculously opened by an angel, or 
a divinity (for so they must have styled that celestial 
apparition ) ; and besides the testimony of others, 
who were apparently prepossessed with notions con- 
trary to the belief of Christ's being risen from the 
dead, and yet affirmed that they were not only told 
by angels that he was risen, but that they themselves 
had seen him, talked with him, and handled him ; 
besides this human testimony, I say, which, consid- 
ering all the circumstances attending it, must be 
allowed to have been sufficient to prove any event, 
that was not either impossible or improbable in the 
highest degree, there were (as it was reasonable to 
expect there should be) other evidences as extraor- 
dinary and miraculous as the resurrection itself. Of 
this kind are the predictions contained in the writ- 
ings of Moses,the Prophets, and the psalmist, setting 
forth the design and purpose of God to redeem 
mankind by the righteousness, sufferings, death, 
and resurrection of the 6 seed of the woman.' With- 
out the resurrection, this great scheme of divine 
mercy had been incomplete ; by that it was perfected, 
and the triumph over death added to that over sin ; 
the Messiah thereby accomplishing all that the 
Scriptures foretold of his glory and power. When, 
therefore, one part of the promises relating to Jesus, 
had been so exactly made good in his life and death, 
it is reasonable to conclude, that God did not fail to 
fulfil the others in his resurrection. 
In the same class of evidence may also be ranked 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



175 



the prophecies of Jesus himself, relating to his rising 
from the dead, which, coming from one, whose other 
predictions (of which there had been many) had 
been always accomplished, deserved to be credited 
no less than the others, and were not only verified 
by the event itself, but confirmed by other subse- 
quent events, foretold likewise by him before his 
passion, and linked with and depending upon that 
great proof of his divine power. Such, for instance, 
were his meeting his disciples in Galilee, his being 
with them a little while before he went to his Fa- 
ther, his ascension into heaven, and his sending to 
them the promised Comforter, with all the glorious 
faculties and powers they received upon his coming. 
With so various, so astonishing, so well-connected 
and irrefragable a chain of evidence is this important 
article of the resurrection bound up and fortified. 

But all these proofs were not exhibited to all the 
Jews ; for not to all the people was Jesus shown 
alive after his passion, but 'to witnesses chosen be- 
fore of God ; to us (saith St. Peter) who did eat and 
drink with him after that he arose from the dead* 
(Acts 10:41.) That Christ made choice of a select 
number of disciples, and particularly of twelve (who 
were called apostles,) to be witnesses of the great 
actions of his life, and especially of his resurrection, 
and preachers of his Gospel to all the world, is a 
thing too well known to need any proof. To qualify 
them for this double office, he not only, upon many 
occasions both before and after his crucifixion, dis^ 
coursed to them in particular 4 of the things pertain- 
ing to the kingdom of God,* and poured upon them 
all the various gifts of the Holy Spirit, but gave them 
every kind of evidence of his being risen from the 
dead, which the most scrupulous and sceptical could 
imagine or require ; showing himself alive to them 
by many infallible proofs, such as eating and drink- 
ing with them, &c, for forty days after his passion. 
And indeed it is highly expedient, that those upon 
whose testimony and credit the truth of any fact is 
to be established^ should have the fullest and most 



176 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



unexceptionable evidence of it, that can be had} 
because their having had all possible means of in- 
formation must needs add great weight and -authority 
to their depositions. Hence then we may learn the 
reason of our Saviour's appearing so often to his 
disciples after his resurrection, of his requiring them 
to handle him, and see that it was he himself, of his 
eating and drinking with them, of his referring them 
to the Scriptures, to his own predictions, and to the 
testimony of those to whom he had appeared, before 
he came to them ; and lastly, of his satisfying the 
unreasonable scruples of St. Thomas; who being 
one of the chosen witnesses, one of the twelve, it 
was proper he should have an equal knowledge of 
the fact he was to attest with his other brethren the 
apostles. That this perfect knowledge of the things 
they were to give testimony to, was necessary for 
those, who were ordained to be apostles, is farther 
evident from the following words of St. Peter (Acts 
] : 15 — 26) ; who after the ascension of our Lord, 
proposing to the rest of his disciples to fill up the 
vacancy made by the transgression and death of 
Judas, by electing one to take part with them in 
their ministry and apostleship, describes the qualifi- 
cations requisite in an apostle by limiting their choice 
in these words : '-Wherefore of these men, that have 
accompanied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus 
went in and out amongst us., beginning from the 
baptism of John, unto that same day that he was 
taken up from us, must one be ordained to be wit- 
ness with us of his resurrection.' Hence also it is 
plain, that all these infallible proofs were not vouch- 
safed by Christ to his disciples merely out of a par- 
ticular favour and regard to them, that they might 
believe and be saved ; but with a farther view, that 
others also, through their testimony founded on the 
completest and exactest information, might likewise 
believe and be saved. The reproof of Christ to St 
Thomas, for not believing without the attestation of 
his senses, implied in the blessing pronounced by 
Uim on those^ 4 who having not seen have yet be* 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 177 



Meved,' is a clear argument, that our Saviour thought 
his disciples had sufficient cause to believe he was 
risen from the dead, even before he showed himself 
to them. And that they had so in fact, I have above 
endeavoured to prove ; and that St. John did believe, 
before he saw his Master, he himself assures us. 
Had Christ therefore intended nothing more, than 
to bring his disciples to a belief of his resurrection, 
he might have left them to the testimony of the Ro- 
man soldiers ; to that of the women ; to the writings 
of Moses and the prophets ; to his own predictions ; 
to the state of the sepulchre, and that wonderful cir- 
cumstance of his body's being nowhere to be found ; 
to all this evidence he might, I say, have left them, 
without appearing to them himself, and left them 
without excuse, had they still continued faithless 
and unbelieving. But though the apostles had upon 
this evidence believed theirMaster to be risen from 
the dead ; yet, without those other infallible proofs 
mentioned by St. Luke, they would certainly have 
not been so well qualified for witnesses of the res- 
urrection to all the world ; that is to say, the reasons 
upon which they believed would not have appeared 
sso convincing. The heathens would not have ad- 
mitted the testimony Of Moses and the prophets ; of 
whose writings they knew nothing, and of whose 
divine authority they had no proof. And as to the 
depositions of the women ; besides that they were 
strangers to their characters, they might, from 
Christ's appearing to them, with some colour have 
demanded why he did not appear likewise to those, 
whom he commissioned to preach his Gospel, and 
to be witnesses of his resurrection. But when, on 
the contrary, the apostles could tell them that they 
themselves had seen Christ, and handled him, eat 
and drunk with him, and conversed with him for 
forty days after that he was risen from the dead, 
they could not but allow them to have had the fullest 
evidence of the resurrection, supposing what they 
told them to be true ; and of this, the purity of their 
doctrine, the holiness of their lives, their courage 



ITS 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



and constancy in defying and undergoing all kinds 
of hardships, dangers,, pain and death, in advancing 
a cause, which every worldly interest obliged them 
to desert, joined to the attestation of the Holy Spirit* 
1 working with them, and confirming ihe word with 
signs following,* were such assurances as no other 
man could give of his veracity. 

From what has been said, it may appear, how little 
ground there is- for the cavils thai have been raised 
upon our Lord's forbidding Mary Magdalene ta 
touch hirn ^ and upon his not showing himself after 
he was risen to the Jews, to the chief priests and 
elders, to the scribes and pharisees: the one of 
which has been interpreted as a refusal to Mary 
Magdalene of the necessary evidence of his being 
risen from the dead, and the other as a breach of the 
promise, implied in these words, fc an evil and adul- 
terous generation seeketh after a sign r and there 
shall be no sign given to it, but the sign of the 
prophet Jonas ; for as Jonas was three days and 
three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of 
Man,' &c. (Matt. 12: 39, 40.) In which (it is said) 
Christ promised to appear, after he was risen, to that 
4 evil and adulterous generation,* that is, to the Jews, 
&c, as contra-distinguished from his disciples and 
apostles. That Christ promised by these words to 
give that ^evil generation'' sufficient proof of his ris-- 
ing from the grave after having lain in it three days, 
I readily allow ; but that he promised to appear to 
them, I absolutely deny, and think it impossible to 
prove he did, from the above-cited passage. Of his 
rising again from the grave on the third day, the 
Jews had the testimony of the prophets, of the pre- 
dictions of Christ himself, the evidence of the Roman 
soldiers, of his body's being nowhere to be found, of 
the women and disciples, and apostles, to whom he 
had appeared ; and who, before the sanhedrim, bore 
witness to his resurrection, and, having just before 
wrought a miracle upon a lame maR j Acts 4 : 10,) 
declared that they had done it in the name of ' Jesus 
of Nazareth, whom,' say they, 'ye crucified, whom 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



179 



God raised from the dead.' This surely was evi- 
dence sufficient to convince any reasonable and 
unprejudiced person : and consequently, to acquit 
our Lord of the promise of giving that * evil genera- 
tion' satisfactory proofs of his being risen from the 
dead. To the evidence vouchsafed by Christ, either 
out of favour to those, * who had forsaken all and 
followed him;' or to those, whom he had chosen to 
be 4 witnesses of him to all the world,' they certainly 
could have no just pretensions : who, instead of bet- 
ing his disciples, had rejected his doctrine, and put 
him to death as an impostor and blasphemer ; and 
instead of shewing any disposition to embrace or 
propagate his Gospel, opposed it with all their pow~ 
er; and by threats and punishments, forbade his 
apostles to preach any more in his name* That 
Mary Magdalene was convinced that it was Jesus 
who appeared to her, I have already shown very 
fully $ and that was all that was necessary for her 
single self. Supposing therefore that she never had 
afterwards the permission of touching or embracing 
her Master (which by the way cannot be proved^) 
neither had she nor any one else reason to complain 
or cavil, since neither her own faith, nor that of any 
other person, depended upon her having that proof 
of the resurrection of Christ ; for she was not an 
apostle, nor one of the chosen witnesses. And it is 
very remarkable, that none of the apostles, either in 
preaching to the unconverted Jews or Gentiles, or 
in their epistles to the church, ever make any men- 
tion of the appearances of Christ to the women : and 
the evangelists seem to have related them only upon 
account of their being connected with other more 
important parts of the history of the resurrection. 
The truth is, the testimony of the women, though of 
great weight with the apostles, and with those who 
received it from their own mouths, was but a second- 
hand hearsay evidence to those who had it only from 
the apostles' report ; who, for that reason, insisted 
always upon their having themselves seen their 
Master, 1 after that he was risen from the dead;' a 



180 



HISTORY" AND EVIDENCES 



circumstance, as far as I can recollect, not omitted 
by any of them, in their arguments upon the resur- 
rection of Jesus ; as may be seen in the passages 
of Scripture that give any particular account of those 
discourses. And thus St. Paul, in his epistle to the 
Corinthians (1 Cor. 15:8,) after enumerating many 
appearances of Christ to the twelve apostles,, and 
others, closes all with saying, 4 and last of all he was 
seen of me also.' So much care did they take ta 
give reasonable evidence for the reasonable faitk 
they required. 



SECTION XXII.. 

Arguments for giving full Crtde.nct to tht Certainty 
of Christ s Resurrection. 

All that has hitherto been said relates chiefly to 
the proofs of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, as 
they were laid before the Apostles, those 'chosen 
witnesses' of that great and astonishing event. And 
1 hope upon a serious and attentive view of the fair 
and unimposing manner in which those proofs were 
offered to their consideration, and of the number 
and certainty of the facts upon which they were 
grounded, every judicious and candid inquirer after 
truth will allow, that, to the apostles at least, the 
resurrection of Jesus was most fully and most un- 
exceptionable proved. I shall now proceed to lay 
before the reader some arguments (for I cannot en- 
ter into all) that may induce us, who live at so remote 
a distance of time from that age of evidence and mir- 
acles, to believe that Christ rose from the dead. 

The first and principal argument is, the testimony 
of those chosen witnesses, transmitted down in 
writings, either penned by themselves, or authorized 
by their inspection and approbation. 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



181 



The second is the existence of the Christian reli- 
gion. 

Before we admit the testimony of these * chosen 
witnesses,' contained in the Gospels, the Acts, the 
Epistles, and the Revelations, it may be proper to 
consider, in the first place, what reasons there are 
for our believing this testimony to be genuine ; or, 
in other words, believing them to be the authors of 
those books, which are now received under their 
names : and, in the next place, what arguments can 
be offered to induce us to give credit to this testi- 
mony, supposing it genuine. 

To prove the apostles* and evangelists to be the 
authors of those Scriptures, which are now received 
under their names, we have the concurrent attesta- 
tion of all the earliest writers of the church, deduced 
by an uninterrupted and uncontrolled tradition, from 
the very times of the apostles. Which is such an 
authentication of these sacred records, as is not to 
be overturned by bare presumptions and a surmised 
and unproved charge of forgery. But for the proofs 
of this proposition I shall refer the reader to the dis- 
coursesf of those learned men, who have treated 
more particularly upon this subject, and shall con- 
tent myself with offering in support of those proofs 
the following considerations ; in which I shall en- 

* l use these two words apostles and evangelists in this place, 
/ to denote and distinguish the authors of the four Gospels, the 
Acts, and the Epistles, &c, though they might all have been 
comprehended under the general term apostles, by which title not 
only the twelve so called by Christ himself, but Matthias after- 
wards and Paul, and all the seventy or seventy-two disciples, are 
mentioned by some of the fathers. Of this lust number were the 
evangelists Mark and Luke (as Dr. Whitby has shown from Ori, 
gen and Kpiphanius,) and as such were qualified by their own 
personal knowledge of most of the facts, and by the inspiration of 
the Holy Ghost, to write their Gospels, without the inspection of 
the two great apostles Peter and Paul, which yet (as we are told 
by some of the fathers) was a farther authority given to them, 
and such as would have sufficed though they had not been them- 
selves particularly inspired. 

t Pee Dr. Whitby's prefatory discourses to his annotations upon 
the Gospels, Acts, &.c. See also V Abadie de la Religion Chretienne, 
torn. ii. 

16 



182 HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 

deavour to show, First, The probability of the apos- 
tles having left in writing the evidences and doc- 
trines of the religion they preached, and of their 
disciples having preserved and transmitted those 
writings to posterity : Secondly, The improbability 
of any books forged in the names of the apostles 
escaping detection. 

First, If the precepts and examples of Jesus Christ 
and his apostles were to be the rules, by which all 
those who in succeeding ages should believe in him 
were required to govern themselves, it seems most 
consonant to the wisdom of God, because agreeable 
to what he himself practised when he gave the law 
to the Israelites, to commit those 'rules of salvation* 
to writing, rather than to the unsure and treacherous 
conveyance of oral tradition ; which cannot with 
any safety be depended upon for scarce so much as 
one or two generations. It is therefore highly reas- 
onable to suppose, that the same spirit, which incited 
and enabled the apostles to preach the Gospel, and 
bear witness to the resurrection of Jesus Christ in 
every nation of the known world, should likewise 
incite and enable them to deliver down to posterity, 
in a method the least liable to uncertainty and error, 
that testimony, and those precepts, upon which the 
faith and practice of after-times were to be estab- 
lished, especially when it is (in the second place) 
considered, that all revelation (revelation, I mean, 
of the doctrines and system of the Gospel) was con- 
fined to the apostles, and consequently ended with 
them. The power of working miracles, speaking 
with other tongues, casting out unclean spirits, &c, 
was frequently, if not universally given to the first 
converts to Christianity ; and some of these gifts 
were continued for many generations in the church. 
But to the apostles only was our Saviour pleased to 
reveal his will. Accordingly, in the epistles of St. 
Paul* we see that those Christians, who were en- 
dowed with many and various gifts of the Holy 

* See particularly the epistles to the Corinthians. 



I 

OF THE RESURRECTION. 183 

Spirit, stood, however, in need of the instructions 
and directions of that apostle, in many points, both 
of faith and practice ; and the earliest writers after 
the apostles, though possessed themselves of many 
of those miraculous powers, instead of pretending 
to immediate revelation, have, upon all occasions, 
recourse to the Holy Scriptures, which they ac- 
knowledge to have been written by the assistance 
of the divine Spirit, as to that fountain, from whence 
alone they could derive the waters of life. Both 
which appeals, as well that made to the apostles by 
their contemporaries, as those made by succeeding 
Christians to the Scriptures, would have been un- 
necessary, had they, like the apostles, been taught 
all things by revelation, and been guided into all 
truth by the Holy Spirit. 

This being the case with those Christians who 
were converted to the faith by the preaching of the 
apostles themselves, and who were to transmit to 
succeeding ages that Gospel, upon which, according 
to their belief, the salvation of mankind depended ; 
is it not natural to imagine they would take the most 
effectual means to supply those defects, which they 
were sensible of in themselves ; and to guard against 
those errors, which, through the imbecility of the 
human mind they had fallen into, even while the 
voices of the apostles still sounded in their ears ; 
and to which their posterity must, of necessity, be 
still more liable ? And what more effectual means 
could they pursue, than either to obtain in writing 
from the apostles themselves the evidences and doc- 
trines of the Christian faith ; or, which amounted to 
much the same thing, to write them down from their 
mouths, or under their inspection and approbation ; 
or lastly, to transcribe from their own memories 
what they could recollect of the doctrines and in- 
structions of the apostles ? Of these three methods, 
the two first were unquestionably the best ; the last 
was subject to many imperfections and mistakes. 
For though our Saviour promised to enable his apos- 
tles, by the Holy Spirit, 6 to call to mind whatever 



184 HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



he had said unto them,' I do not find, that the 
memories of those who heard the apostles were ever 
assisted in the like miraculous manner. If the apos- 
tles, therefore, had not, either from their care for 
the 'household of faith,' or from the suggestions of 
the Holy Spirit, transmitted the proofs and doctrines 
of the Gospel to posterity, in one of the two first- 
mentioned ways, it is to be presumed they would 
have been called upon to do it by those, who looked 
upon them as teachers commissioned and inspired 
by the Spirit of truth, and i who alone had the words 
of eternal life.' And if neither of those two desira- 
ble things could have been obtained, recourse would 
undoubtedly have been had to the last. And indeed 
it is evident, from St. Luke's preface to his Gospel, 
that many writings of this kind were current among 
the Christians of those times. None of which, that 
I know of, having come down to us, it is to be pre- 
sumed they were superseded by writings of greater 
authority ; that is to say, writings either penned by 
the apostles themselves, or authorized by their in- 
spection and approbation ; because this seems to be 
the best account that can be given for the different 
fate that hath attended these several writings ; the 
former having disappeared and died soon after their 
birth ; and the latter having survived now almost 
seventeen centuries, in the same degree of esteem 
and veneration, with which they were at first re- 
ceived by the converts of the apostolic age. For 
that the difference between these writings was made 
in that age is very probable. First, because those 
very contemporaries of the apostles stood themselves 
in need of their instructions, admonitions, and ex- 
hortations for their own direction and encourage- 
ment. And secondly, for the conviction of the next 
age, who were to receive the Gospel from their 
hands, they wanted the testimony and authority of 
those persons, to whom the facts upon which their 
faith depended were the most completely proved ; 
and who alone, in matters of doctrine, were 4 guided 
into all truth' by the infallible * Spirit of God.' For 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



185 



by their own evidence they could prove no more 
than what fell within the compass of their own 
knowledge, which could extend no farther than to 
what they had themselves seen of the apostles, or 
heard from their mouths. And this evidence of 
theirs could acquire no farther authority by having 
been committed to writing. The apostles alone 
could prove, what they only knew, and were the 
only authentic preachers of those doctrines, which 
they alone received from Christ, or, after his ascen- 
sion, from the Holy Spirit. Their successors, be- 
sides bearing testimony to their characters, and 
giving evidence, perhaps of some collateral fact3 
which had fallen under their own observations, could 
do more than witness their depositions ; that is, that 
these and these were the facts, and these and these 
were the doctrines delivered by the apostles. If the 
apostles, therefore, either from the secret instigation 
of the Holy Ghost, or from their paternal care and 
affection for the ' household of faith,' or at the re- 
quest of their children in Christ Jesus,' did commit 
to writing the proofs and doctrines of the Christian 
religion (as it is reasonable to suppose they did) it is 
as reasonable to conclude, that what they either 
wrote or approved, must necessarily have been pre- 
ferred to all other writings whatever. 

And as the writings of the apostles must, for the 
reasons above-mentioned, have been of great weight 
and importance to the Christians of their times ; and 
of still greater to those of the succeeding ages, who 
could not, like their predecessors, upon any occasion, 
have recourse to the living and infallible oracles of 
God; it is natural to imagine, that the persons, in 
whose hands those sacred and invaluable treasures 
were deposited, would preserve and guard them 
with the utmost fidelity and care ; would impart 
copies of them to such of their brethren, who could 
not have access to the originals; and would, from 
the same principle of Christian benevolence and 
fidelity, see that those copies w r ere transcribed with 
all that exactness, which human nature, ever liable 



186 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



to slips and errors, was capable of. The same care, 
under the same allowances, it is to be supposed, 
would be also taken by those who should translate 
them into the several languages spoken by Christians 
of different nations, who did not understand that in 
which the apostles wrote. 

These several steps appear to me so natural and 
obvious, that I cannot but think any set of reasona- 
ble and honest men could not fail of making them, 
under the same circumstances as attended the first 
preachers and converts of Christianity. And from 
hence arises a strong presumption in favour of those 
accounts, which inform us, That the apostles and 
evangelists were the genuine authors of those writ- 
ings, which are now received under their names. 
That although many, even in the apostles' times, 
* had taken in hand,' as St. Luke expresses it, 6 to set 
forth in order a declaration of those things which 
were most surely believed amongst Christians, even 
as they delivered them, who were eye-witnesses 
and ministers of the word ;' and, although some 
years after the deaths of the apostles, many Gospels, 
Epistles, &c, appeared, which were ascribed to 
them, to the Virgin Mary, and even to Jesus Christ 
himself ; yet those only, which we now account ca- 
nonical, were admitted as such from the very earliest 
ages of Christianity. That these canonical books 
were preserved and kept, with the most scrupulous 
and religious care, by the several churches or socie- 
ties of Christians ; who did not, and, indeed, upon 
their principles could not, presume to add to them, 
or take from them the least tittle. That copies of 
them were immediately dispersed throughout the 
whole Christian world ; 'the apostles' (saith Irenceus, 
lib. iii, c. 1) 'first preaching the Gospel, and after- 
wards, by the will of God, delivering it to us in the 
Scriptures, to be thenceforward the pillar and foun- 
dation of our faith. And the first successors of the 
apostles' (as Eusebius informs us, Hist. Eccles. lib. 
iii. c. 37) 'leaving their countries, preached tp them 
who had not yet heard of the Christian faith, and 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



187 



then delivered to them, as the foundation of their 
faith, the writings of the holy evangelists,' That 
the originals of the epistles were still preserved in 
the respective churches to which they were directed 
in the time of Tertullian, who, writing to the heretics 
of his age, viz : of the third century, bids them 4 go 
to the apostolic churches, where the authentic epis- 
tles of the apostles,' saith he, i are still recited,' 
That, lastly, translations of these Scriptures were 
made so early, as to precede the general admission 
of some parts of them, which were afterwards receiv- 
ed as genuine ; the Syriac version being so ancient, 
that it leaves out the second epistle of Peter, the 
second and third epistles of John, and the revela- 
tions, as being, controverted in some of the eastern 
churches ; which, by the way, shows how scrupulous 
the first Christians were about admitting into the 
canon of Scripture, writings, which, though bearing 
the names of the apostles, and received by some 
churches as genuine, were yet questioned and sus- 
pected by others. To all which we may add still 
farther, that these several accounts, relating merely 
to facts, tend only to establish another fact, viz : 
that the apostles and evangelists did compose the 
Gospels, Epistles, &c, ascribed to them ; which 
fact is capable of being proved by the same kind of 
evidence as any other fact of the same nature. That 
the evidences of this fact cannot be overturned, but 
upon such principles as will equally subvert the 
proofs of all facts, that existed at any great distance 
of time from the present. That we ought, therefore, 
either to admit this fact, or reject all those, without 
distinction, which stand only upon the credit of his- 
tories and records ; of the truth of any of which we 
have no stronger assurances, than we have of the 
authenticity of these holy writings.* 

* The render, who Is inclined to see the authorities, upon which 
these several articles were founded, may consult Whitby's Preface 
to the Gospels, &c. 



188 



HISTORY AND 



EVIDENCES 



SECTION XXIIL 
Genuineness of the Gospels and Epistles* 

The next point to be considered is, the improba- 
bility of any books forged in the names of the apos- 
tles escaping detection. 

The reasons given under the foregoing article, to 
show the probability of the apostles having left in 
writing the evidences and doctrines of Christianity, 
and of their disciples having preserved and trans- 
mitted those writings to their successors, will lead 
us to discover the improbability of any books forged 
in the names of the apostles escaping detection. 
For if it was necessary for the Christians, even of 
the apostolic age, to have in writing the directions 
and instructions of the apostles in many points both 
of faith and practice, as is evident it was from almost 
all the epistles, it was as necessary for them to be 
assured, that what was delivered to them in the 
name of an apostle was certainly of his inditing. 
And this was to he known many ways ; for surely 
we may have undoubted proof of such a one's being 
the author of such a book or letter, without having* 
seen him write it with his own hand, or having heard 
from his own mouth that he wrote it. 1 The apos- 
tles,' saith Irene&us, 4 having first preached the Gos- 
pel, delivered it afterwards to us in the Scriptures.' 
Now, as we have no reason to believe, from any ac- 
counts that can be depended upon, that any of those 
styled apostles, besides the six,* whose works we 
now have, left any thing in writing, if these words 
of Irenseus be taken to relate to the whole number 

* These six are Matthew, John, Peter, Paul, James, and Jude. 
Mark and Luke, though supposed, with good reason, to be of the 
number of the seventy-two disciples, were not apostles, in the 
strict and limited sense, of that word. 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



189 



of the apostles, it will follow from them, that even 
those apostles, who wrote nothing themselves, did 
yet deliver to their 'children in Christ' such parts 
of the Scriptures, as had come to their hands. In 
which case those Scriptures, thus delivered and rec- 
ommended by an apostle, must have been allowed 
to have the same authority as if they had been writ- 
ten by that apostle himself ; since he, as well as his 
brethren who wrote them, was under the inspiration 
and guidance of that Holy Spirit, who, according to 
the promise of Christ, was to Mead them into all 
truth ; and, therefore, could not be ignorant whether 
the matters contained in those Scriptures were true 
or false. But if the general term apostles be limited 
to such of them only as composed the writings, called 
by Irenseus the Scriptures ; the meaning of his words 
will be, that the apostles, when they had preached 
the Gospel (that is, the whole system of facts and 
doctrines, which it was necessary for Christians to 
know and believe,) committed it to writing for the 
use of the churches, to serve thenceforward, as he 
expresses it, for ' the pillar and foundation' of their 
faith in Christ Jesus. Those churches, therefore, 
were the proper evidences to prove the apostles to 
be the authors of those writings, which they received 
from them. And the testimony they gave to that 
matter of fact, as, on the one hand, it does not ap- 
pear to have been liable to any suspicion of fraud ;^ 
so, on the other, it seems equally free from any 
probability of error, or misinformation. For they 
must have had certain knowledge of the character 
and credit of the persons who delivered those writ- 
ings to them in the name of any of the apostles,* 

* Thus Tychicus, mentioned by St. Paul in his Epistle to the 
Ephesians, as sent by him, and most probably the bearer of thnt 
epistle, and of that to the C'«>lossians (4 :7, 8, 9.) where he is also 
mentioned as sent to them by that apostle, together with Onesi- 
mus* Tychicus, I say, and Onesimus, were, doubtless, able to 
give such proofs of St. Paul's being the author of those two epis- 
tles, as the Christians of those nations must have been satisfied 
with, could it be supposed that they wanted other reasons to 
convince them of it; but this supposition, I believe, no one will 
think it reasonable to make. 



190 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



and many other indubitable proofs, both external and 
internal, to convince them of their being genuine, 
or to discover the falsehood, if they were not. Al- 
lowing, for instance, the epistles which now pass 
under the name of St. Paul, to have been received 
during his life by the churches to which they were 
directed; there are, in all of them, many circum- 
stances, by which they might certainly have known 
him to be the author. These circumstances, the 
reader, if he has either received or wrote any letters 
of business to or from his acquaintance and friends, 
may easily suggest to himself, and may as easily 
discover them upon perusing those epistles. But it 
will, nay, it must be said, by those who deny these 
Scriptures to have been written by the apostles, 
whose names they bear, that they were forged after 
their deaths, and, consequently, could not have been 
received by the churches during their lives. This, 
doubtless, infidels will say (for what else can they 
pretend ?j But I am at a loss to think how they can 
support their assertion, since not only the testimony 
of all the earliest writers of the church, but common 
sense itself is against them. For can it be imagined, 
that the Corinthians, for example, would have re- 
ceived, as genuine, an epistle not delivered to them 
till after the death of the apostle, whose name it 
bore ; and yet appearing, from many circumstances 
therein mentioned, to have been written several 
years before ; unless such an extraordinary delay 
was very satisfactorily accounted for ? Is it not to 
be presumed, that in a matter of such importance, 
not only to themselves, but to all Christians, they 
would have demanded of the person, who first pro- 
duced it, how he came by it? How he knew it was 
written by St. Paul, and addressed to them ? Why 
it was not sent at the time it was written, especially 
as it was evident, upon the face of the epistle itself, 
that it was written upon occasion of some disturb- 
ances crept into that church, and in answer to some 
questions proposed to that apostle, which required a 
speedy reformation and reply? These questions* 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



191 



and many more, which the particulars referred to in 
the epistle must have suggested, the Corinthians 
would, in common prudence, have asked ; and if the 
impostor could not (as it is most reasonable to con- 
clude he could not) return a satisfactory answer to 
those questions ; can we believe the Corinthians 
would have admitted, upon his bare word, or even 
upon probable presumptions, an epistle, which, if 
they acknowledged it to have been written by St. 
Paul, they must thenceforward have regarded as the 
infallible rule of their faith and practice ? This is 
supposing, that the first Christians (as their candid 
adversaries are indeed apt to suppose) acted with 
much less wisdom and circumspection, than any 
men would now act upon any momentous affair in 
ordinary life. And let it not be forgotten, that 
Christianity, at its first appearance in the world, very 
deeply affected the temporal concerns of its profes- 
sors. The profession of Christianity did not then, 
as it does now in some parts of the world, entitle 
men to, and qualify them for honour and preferments. 
Christians, upon barely confessing themselves such, 
were many times, without any crime alleged, put 
immediately to death ; all the advantages they reap- 
ed from a life of faith and virtue were the peace of 
a quiet conscience here, and the hopes of a blessed 
immortality hereafter. The professing Christianity, 
therefore, was a matter of temporal deliberation. 
And why is it more reasonable to imagine, that the 
people of those ages would give up all their worldly 
views and interests, without being convinced that 
it was worth their while to do it, than it is to imag- 
ine, that a man in his senses, either of this or any 
past age, would, without a valuable consideration, 
surrender his estate to a stranger, and leave himself 
a beggar? I say this to those people, who seem to 
consider all the primitive Christians either as fools 
or knaves, enthusiasts or impostors ; without being 
able to assign any reason for their opinion, but that 
there have been fools and knaves, enthusiasts and 
impostors, among the professors of all religions 



192 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



whatsoever. But in order to prove a man a fool, or 
an enthusiast, for embracing this or that religion, it 
will be necessary to show, in the first place, that he 
took up his faith without duly examining the princi- 
ples, or facts, upon which it is founded ; that his 
faith was not properly deducible from those facts or 
principles ; or, that those principles and facts were 
in themselves absurd and false. These points, I 
say, are not to be presumed, but proved. And, with 
regard to the question now under consideration, un- 
less it is proved by positive and undeniable evidence, 
that the Scriptures, upon which the Christians who 
lived immediately after the times of the apostles, 
built their faith, were either forged or falsified (that 
is, forged in part,) it cannot, I apprehend, be fairly 
concluded, that they acted like fools or madmen, in 
* forsaking all,' and 4 taking up the cross of Christ.' 
Let this point be once proved, and it will readily be 
allowed, that they took up their faith without due 
examination ; since it must be owned, that if we, at 
this distance, are able to discover the forgery, they, 
who lived at the very time when those writings first 
appeared, could not have wanted the means of de- 
tecting it, had they thought proper to make use of 
them. For as it is evident from the testimonies of 
the oldest Christian writers, some of whom lived 
very near the times of the apostles themselves, that 
the Scriptures were cited, read, and generally re- 
ceived as genuine by the Christians of their age, 
and even before, they must have been forged either 
in the life-time of the apostles, or very soon after 
their deaths. That they were forged, and generally 
received as authentic, while the apostles^were yet 
living, nobody, I imagine, will venture to assert, 
who considers the many circumstances and facts 
therein related, concerning the apostles themselves, 
and numberless other people then living ; any one 
of which being falsified, must have utterly destroyed 
the pretence of their having been composed by an 
apostle, whom some of those Scriptures affirmed to 
have been under the guidance and inspiration of the 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 193 



Spirit of truth. If they were forged and published 
soon after the deaths of the apostles, there was still 
great danger of the fraud's being detected, if not by 
many living witnesses, yet by such a tradition of 
facts and doctrines, whether oral or written, as, if it 
had been found to clash with that supposed Gospel 
or Epistle, must have rendered its authenticity sus- 
pected, unless supported by better evidence than 
the bare name of an apostle prefixed to it. And if 
it could be supposed, that the bare name of an apos- 
tle was, in those times, of weight sufficient to estab- 
lish the authority of any writing, though otherwise 
liable to suspicion ; how came it to pass, that those 
cunning impostors, who wrote the Gospels of Mark 
and Luke, did not publish them under the venerable 
and all-sanctifying names of the apostles ? If these 
Scriptures, therefore, were forged and published in 
either of the above-mentioned periods (and, for the 
reasons before given, the forgery could not have 
been of a later date,) it is highly improbable that the 
imposture should have escaped detection ; and had 
it been detected, it is equally improbable, that Chris- 
tians, who staked their all upon this truth of the 
Gospel, should receive as genuine, and acknowledge 
as divinely inspired, writings which were known, or 
even suspected to be forged. But it will, perhaps, 
be urged, that the cheat was discovered and known 
only by a few of the wiser sort ; who, for the ad- 
vancement of a good cause, thinking it at least rt. 
venial sin, a fraud which might even be styled pious, 
to impose upon their weaker brethren, recommended 
to them, under the name of an apostle, a religious 
treatise, which tended only to improve their piety, 
and strengthen their faith. But this suspicion will 
appear as groundless and improbable as any of the 
former, if it be considered, that the abettors, as well 
as the authors of the forgery, must have been Chris- 
tians (Christian, I mean, as contra-distinguished 
from Jews, heathens, and heretics,) and men of ca- 
pacities and knowledge superior to the vulgar. As 
Christians, they could not, in those ages of persecu- 



194 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



tion, have any worldly interest in promoting the 
cause of Christianity, and, therefore, could have no 
motive to induce them to impose upon their brethren, 
but a persuasion that it was lawful at least to 1 do 
evil, that good might come of it.* A principle, which, 
as men of parts and knowledge, they could not but 
be sensible was unworthy of a disciple of the Lord 
of truth and righteousness ; and which is expressly 
condemned in the epistle to the Romans (3 : 8) ; 
which epistle, therefore, cannot be supposed to have 
been forged by men, who acknowledged that prin- 
ciple, and proceeded upon it. Besides, as far the 
greater number of the books of Scripture contain 
facts, as well as precepts and doctrines, these im- 
postors, however well-intentioned, could not be as- 
sured that their imposture would not turn more to 
the prejudice than advantage of Christianity ; since, 
though they might think themselves in the acquies- 
cence, of their weaker brethren, and the fidelity of 
their partners in the fraud, they had reason to ap- 
prehend the zeal and abilities of their open and 
avowed enemies, heathens, Jews, and heretics; 
who, wanting neither the means nor inclination to 
examine the principles of a religion, which, with 
their utmost power, they endeavoured to subvert, 
might very probably discover their imposture ; and 
would certainly take every advantage, which such a 
discovery could furnish them with, of decrying a re- 
ligion, which they miffht then, w T ith some colour, 
have sutrofested, could not be maintained without 
fraud. This danger, which, with the same penetra- 
tion that enabled them to discover a cheat that had 
passed upon the vulgar, they must undoubtedly have 
foreseen, would, it may be supposed, have checked 
their zeal, and rendered them cautious how they 
ventured upon an imposture, the success of which 
was so very precarious. 

Since, therefore, no motive can be assigned of 
force sufficient to induce any Christians of those 
times, either to contrive or support a forgery of this 
kind ; since, had any of those Scriptures attributed 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 195 



to the apostles, and especially the Epistles of St. 
Paul, been forged and published so early, as the 
writings of the most ancient fathers show them to 
have been known and received, it is next to impos- 
sible that the fraud should have escaped detection ; 
and since the Christians of those ages must, in con- 
sequence of such a detection, have necessarily dis- 
owned and rejected those Scriptures as spurious, 
may we not, from their having acknowledged them 
as authentic, conclude, for the several reasons above 
given, that the apostles and evangelists were the 
undoubted authors of the writings now received un- 
der their names ? 

But allowing the Christians of those early ages to 
have been able to discover the genuine works of the 
apostles, from any spurious writings forged in their 
names; and allowing those books, now received 
into the canon of the Holy Scriptures, to have been 
written by those authors, whose names they bear, it 
may be demanded, how we at this time can be as- 
sured, that, among the great number which have 
since been ascribed to them, they wrote only these ? 
Or that in such a succession of ages these are come 
down to us pure and uncorrupted ? To the first of 
these questions I answer, that as the Christians of 
those early ages must be acknowledged for compe- 
tent judges of the authority of any books or writings 
ascribed to the apostles, such book or writing as 
they allowed to be genuine hath an indisputable title 
to that character. But to this title no other writings 
ascribed to the apostles, besides those now receiv- 
ed into the canon of Scripture, can pretend ; since of 
most of them, especially the false Gospels we find 
no mention till the fourth century. 

For an answer to the second question, I shall re- 
fer the learned reader to Dr. Whitby's Examen 
Variantium Lectionum D. Millii, published at the 
end of his second volume of annotations on the New 
Testament, where he will find that the various read- 
ings, upon which the adversaries of Christianity 
(among whom I reckon the clergy of the church of 



196 HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



Rome) have laid so great a stress, will be of little 
service to their cause ; the greatest part of them 
being absolutely insignificant, and none of them, 
saith that learned writer, 4 either changing or cor- 
rupting any article of faith, or rule of life.'* 

And although, considering the great length of 
time that is past since these Scriptures were written, 
and the number of copies and translations that have 
been made of them, if is no wonder that many errors 
should have crept into them, either from the igno- 
rance or inadvertency of transcribers and translators, 
all of which have helped to swell the sum of various 
readings ; yet, considering on the other hand, the 
number of heresies that have sprung up in every 
age of Christianity, all of which pretended to derive 
their opinions from the Scriptures; considering also 
the watchfulness of the Jews and heathens, those 
avowed enemies of the Gospel, who, as appears from 
their writing, were no strangers to the Scriptures, 
it would be a still greater wonder that any material 
alteration should have been made in them ; since, 
whoever had attempted any such alteration, whether 
Christian, heretic, Jew, or heathen, could not but 
know it was impossible it should escape the obser- 
vation of so many eyes, as were continually prying, 
though with different views, into these important 
writings. And this seems to me the only reason for 
their having passed uncorrupted through the treach- 
erous hands of the church of Rome, who had them 
so long in her keeping. She was restrained from 
altering the Scriptures, by the fear of being detected 
by the eastern churches, who disowned her authori- 
ty ; and yet there is little question to be made that 
she would have done it, had she not fallen upon that 
less dangerous, though more absurd expedient, of 
locking Ihem up from the laity, and assuming to 
herself the sole right of expounding them. A right 
which she hath asserted and maintained with all the 
artifices and cruelty that fraud and tyranny could 

* See Whitby's Prefatory Discourse to the four Gospels. 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



197 



invent. This expedient, however, though it hath 
hitherto preserved popery, hath saved the Scriptures, 
and with them Christianity. For, considering the 
duration, extent, and absoluteness of her power in 
the west, had she altered the text of Scripture, ac- 
cording to the comments she had made upon it, 
Christians (could there have been any really such at 
this time, and in these parts of the world) must have 
been reduced to contend with the church of Rome, 
not from the Scriptures, but for the Scriptures them- 
selves. And what advantages infidelity and scepti- 
cism would have had in the mean time is easy to 
imagine ; since they are bold enough to dispute 
even now the genuineness of those Scriptures, 
which the very persons, whose doctrines are the 
most opposite to them, have been necessitated to 
acknowledge and maintain. 



SECTION XXIV. 

Reasons for believing the Testimony of the Apostles 
ana Evangelists, 

I am now to consider what arguments can be of- 
fered to induce us to give credit to the testimony of 
the apostles and evangelists. Two qualities are 
requisite to establish the credit of a witness, viz : a 
perfect knowledge of the fact he gives testimony 
to ; and a fair and unblemished character. 

After what has been said in the preceding parts 
of this discourse concerning the evidences of the 
resurrection of Jesus Christ, it will, I hope, be grant- 
ed, that the apostles were duly qualified to be wit- 
nesses, in point of knowledge of the fact, which they 
are brought to give testimony to. It remains then 
that we inquire into their characters, which may 



198 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



very clearly be collected from the tenor of their lives 
and conduct, as preachers of the Gospel, and the 
purity of the doctrines they taught ; not to insist in 
favour of them upon the conclusion, which may be 
drawn from their very enemies not having been able 
to fix upon them any stain or blemish, which they 
themselves have not acknowledged and lamented. 

Their lives, then, after they had embraced Chris- 
tianity, were not only irreproachable, but holy ; and 
their conduct, as preachers of the Gospel, disinter- 
ested, noble, and generous, in the most exalted de- 
gree. For they not only quitted their houses, their 
lands, their occupations, their friends, kindred, pa- 
rents, wives, and children, but their countries also, 
every pursuit, and every endearment of life, in order 
to propagate, with infinite labour, through innumer- 
able difficulties, and with the utmost dangers, in 
every corner of the known world, the salvation of 
mankind ; certain of meeting, in every new region, 
with new enemies and opposers ; and yet requiring 
of those, who, through their preaching, were become 
their friends and brethren, nothing but a bare sub- 
sistence ; and sometimes labouring with their own 
hands, to save them even from that light and reason- 
able burthen ; disclaiming for themselves all au- 
thority, pre-eminence, and power; and teaching 
those ignorant and superstitious people, who, taking 
them for gods, would have worshipped them, and 
sacrificed to them, that they were men like them- 
selves, and servants of that one God, to whom alone 
worship was due. Would impostors, who are most 
commonly interested, vain-glorious, and ambitious, 
have acted in this manner ? No, certainly ; but, it 
may be said, enthusiasts would. Be it so. But how 
can it be made appear that the apostles were enthu- 
siasts ? If Christ did not rise from the dead, most 
assuredly he did not preach to them after his cruci- 
fixion. Upon which supposition, I apprehend it will 
be very difficult to account for their returning to 
their faith in that Master, whom, in his distress, they 
had abandoned and disowned. But if Christ did 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



199 



rise from the dead, and did, after his resurrection, 
converse with his apostles, I suppose it will be easily 
granted, that they had sufficient reason for believing 
in him, and for acting in obedience to the command 
given them by him, to preach the Gospel throughout 
the world, especially when they found themselves 
ss well qualified for that important commission, by 
the miraculous powers conferred upon them by the 
Holy Ghost, and particularly the gift of tongues, so 
apparently and so wisely calculated to carry on that 
great universal service. If this, I say, was the case, 
then surely the apostles were no enthusiasts, since 
they neither believed themselves without reasonable 
proof, nor pretended to inspiration and a divine com- 
mission, without being able to give to others suffi- 
cient evidences of both.* 

Of all the admirably pure and truly divine doctrines 
taught by the apostles, I shall consider only two, as 
more peculiarly relative to the present argument ; 
and they are, the belief of a judgment to come, and 
the obligation of speaking truth. That God will 
judge the world by Jesus Christ, is a necessary ar- 
ticle of the Christian faith ; and, as such, is strongly 
and frequently inculcated in the writings of the 
apostles and evangelists, of which it is needless to 
produce instances. And that Christians were re- 
quired by these preachers of holiness to speak truth 
upon all occasions, the following texts will clearly 
evince. In Ephesians 4 : 25, the apostle commands, 
that, 'putting away lying, they speak every man 
truth with his neighbour.' And again, Colossians 
3:9,' Lie not one to another.' Nay, that even the 
man, who lies through zeal for the glory of God, is, 
according to their estimation, to be accounted a sin- 
ner, may be inferred from these words in Romans 
3:7, 8 : — ' If the truth of God hath more abounded 
through my lie unto his glory, why yet am I also 
judged as a sinner? And not rather, as we be slan- 
derously reported, and as some affirm that we say, 

* See Mr, Loske's phapter on Enthusiasm, 



200 HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



Let us do evil that good may come ? Whose dam- 
nation is just.' That the apostles themselves were 
fully persuaded of 1 the truth of these propositions, 
nobody can deny, who will call to mind, that they 
chose to suffer persecution and death itself, rather 
than not to 1 speak the things which they had seen 
and heard ;' and that, 1 if in this life only they had 
hope, they were of all men the most miserable.' 'Now, 
that any men, who firmly believed that God w: : 
punish them for speaking an untruth, though for the 
advancement of a good cause, should, at the hazard 
of their lives, and without any prospect of g*ain or 
advantage, assert facts, which, at the same time, 
they knew to be false ; should, for instance, affirm, 
that they saw and conversed with Jesus Christ after 
his resurrection, knowing or believing that he was 
not risen from the dead, and yet expect to be judged 
hereafter by that very same Jesus, is too improbable 
to gain credit with any, but those great believers of 
absurdities, the infidels and sceptics. 



SECTION XXV. 

Internal Marks of Truth in the Sacred Writings. 

But besides the many infallible tokens and evi- 
dences of the integrity of the apostles and evange- 
lists, that may be collected from their lives and doc- 
trines, there are also in their writings several internal 
marks of their veracity ; some of which I shall now 
endeavour to point out, confining myself to such 
parts of their writings as belong to the present sub- 
ject. 

The contradictions and inconsistencies, which 
some imagine they have discovered in the evangeli- 



OP THE RESURRECTION- 201 

eal accounts of the resurrection, have been urged 
as arguments for setting aside the authority, and 
rejecting the evidence of the Gospels. But these 
supposed contradictions having been considered in 
the foregoing parts of this discourse ; and havings 
upon a close inspection, and comparing the several 
narratives with each other, been shown to be shad- 
owy and imaginary, and to lie no deeper than the 
superficies and surface of the words, we need not 
be afraid of admitting these appearances of incon- 
sistency, since from them it may be inferred, to the 
advantage of the evangelists, that they did not write 
in concert For had they agreed together upon 
giving an aecount of the resurrection of Christ; and 
each of them taken by allotment his several portion 
of that history, it is probable they would somewhere 
or other have dropped some intimations, that the 
particulars, which had been omitted by them, were 
supplied by others; and that such and such parts 
of their narrations were to be connected with 
such and such facts, related by their brethren ; or 
they would have distinguished the several incidents 
by such strong and visible marks, and circumstances 
of time and place, &c, as might have been sufficient, 
at first sight, to discover their order, and keep them 
from being confounded with each other. Some, or 
all of these things, I say, they would probably have 
done, had they written in concert. And doubtless 
they would, nay they must have written in concert, 
had they endeavoured to Impose upon the world a 
cunningly-devised fable ; and had they not trusted 
to the truth and notoriety of the facts they related. 
Truth, like honesty, oftentimes neglects appearan- 
ces. Hypocrisy and imposture are always guarded. 

And as from these seeming discordances in their 
accounts, we may conclude they did not rise in con- 
cert, so from their agreeing in the principal and 
most material facts, we may infer that they wrote 
after the truth. In Xiphilin and Theodosius, the 
two abbreviators of Dio Cassius,* may be observed 

* Vide Dio Cass. Hist. edit. Leimclav. fol. Hauov. 1606, 



202 HISTORY/ AND EVIDENCES 



the like agreement and disagreement ; the one tak- 
ing notice of many particulars, which the other 
passes over in silence, and both of them relating the 
chief, and most remarkable events. And as from 
their both frequently making use of the very same 
words and expressions, when they speak of the same 
thing, it is apparent that they both copied from the 
same original ; so I believe nobody was ever absurd 
enough to imagine, that the particulars mentioned 
by the one were not taken out of Dio Cassius, mere- 
ly because they are omitted by the other. Arid still 
more absurd would it be to say, as some have lately 
done of the evangelists, that the facts related by 
Theodosius are contradicted by Xiphilin, because 
the latter says nothing of them. But against the 
evangelists, it seems, all kinds of arguments may 
not only be employed, but applauded. The case 
of the sacred historians is exactly parallel to that of 
these two abbre viators. The latter extracted the 
particulars related in their several abridgments from 
the history of Dio Cassius, as the former drew the 
materials of their Gospels from the life of Jesus 
Christ. The two last transcribed their relations 
from a certnin collection of facts contained in one and 
the same history ; the four first from a certain collec- 
tion of facts contained in the life of one and the same 
person, laid before them by that Spirit, which was to 
lead them into all truth ; and why the fidelity of the 
four transcribers should be called in question for 
reasons which hold equally strong against the two 
who are not suspected, I leave those to determine 
who lay such a weight upon this objection. 

Another mark of the veracity of the evangelists 
appears in their naming the time, the scene of ac- 
tion, the actors, and the witnesses, of most of the 
facts mentioned by them ; which I shall give a re- 
markable instance of in one relating to the present 
subject, the resurrection, viz : the guarding the sep- 
ulchre of Christ. The time was that of the celebra- 
tion of 'the passover, the most solemn festival of the 
Jews ; the scene was in Jerusalem^ the metropolis 



\ 



Or THE RESURRECTION, 



203 



of Judea, and at that time crowded with Jews, who 
came thither from all parts of the earth to keep the 
passover. The actors and witnesses were the chief 
priests and elders, Pontius Pilate, the Roman gover- 
nor, and the Roman soldiers, who guarded the sep- 
ulchre. Now, if the story of guarding the sepulchre 
had been false, it is not to be doubted but the chief 
priests and elders, who are said to have obtained the 
guard, and sealed the door of the sepulchre, would, 
by some authentic act, have cleared themselves of 
the folly and guilt imputed to them by the evange- 
list, who charges the chief priests with having bribed 
the soldiers to tell not only a lie, but an absurd lie, 
that carried its own confutation with it ; the soldiers 
with confessing a breach of discipline,that by law was 
punishable with death ; and the governor, with the 
suspicion at least of being capable of overlooking so 
heinous a crime, at the instigation of the chief priests, 
&c. All these several charges upon the whole 
government of Judea might have been answered 
at once by an attestation from the chief priests, set- 
ting forth, that they never demanded a guard to be 
set at the sepulchre, confirmed by the testimony of 
all the Roman officers and soldiers (many of whom 
were probably at Jerusalem when this Gospel was 
written,) denying that they were ever upon that 
guard. This, not only the reputation of the chief 
priests, but their avowed malice to Christ, and aver- 
sion to his doctrine and religion required ; and this, 
even upon the supposition of the story of guarding 
the sepulchre being true, they would probably have 
done, had they been at liberty to propagate and in- 
vent what lie they pleased. But that a guard was 
set at the sepulchre was, in all likelihood, by the 
dispersion and flight of the soldiers into the city, too 
well known in Jerusalem for them to venture at de- 
nying it; for which reason, as I have before observ- 
ed, they were obliged to invent a lie consistent with 
that known fact, however absurd and improbable it 
might appear when it came to be considered and 
examined. Now as the report put into the mouths 



204 



HISTORY A NIT EVIDENCES 



of the Roman soldiers by the chief priests and elders 
is no proof of the falsehood of this fact, but rather of 
the contrary, so does the naming the time, the scene, 
the actors, and the witnesses, form a very strong* 
presumption of its being true, since no forger of lies 
willingly and wittingly furnishes out the "means of 
his own detection ; especially when we consider 
that this story is related by that evangelist, who is 
said to have written nearest the time, and to have 
composed his Gospel for those Christians who dwelt 
in Judea, many of whom then living were probably 
at Jerusalem when this thing was done. 

The strict attachment and regard to truth of all 
the evangelists is farther manifested in their relating 
of themselves and their brethren many things, that 
in the opinion of the world could not but turn much 
to their dishonour and discredit. Such as their de- 
nying and deserting their Master in his extremity, 
and their duiness in not understanding his predic- 
tions about his rising from the dead, though ex- 
pressed in the plainest and most intelligible words. 
A man's confession against himself, or his friends, 
is generally presumed to be true. If the evangelists 
therefore be allowed to be the authors of those Gos- 
pels which bear their names, or if those writings are 
supposed to have been forged by some friends to 
Christianity, they must in these instances at least 
he acknowledged to relate the truth, till some other 
good reason, besides that of their attachment to the 
trath, can be assigned for their inserting such dis- 
graceful and dishonourable accounts of themselves 
and their friends. 

But there is nothing that sets the veracity of the 
sacred writers so much above all question and sus- 
picion, as what they tell us about the low condition, 
the infirmities, the "sufferings and death of the great 
author and finisher of their faith, Christ Jesus." He 
hungered, they say, he was poor, so poor as not to 
1 have where to lay his head he wept, hid himself 
for fear of the Jews who sought to kill him; and 
when his hour drew nigh, he was dejected, sorrow- 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 205 

ful, 'exceeding sorrowful, even unto death.' He 
prayed, that the cup of affliction, which was then 
mixing for him, might, if possible, pass from him. 
And though he was strengthened by an angel from 
heaven, yet, being in an agony, he prayed more 
earnestly, and his sweat was as it were great drops 
of blood falling down to the ground. After this, he 
was seized like a common malefactor, abandoned 
by all his followers and friends ; led bound, first to 
Annas, then to Caiaphas, then to Pilate, then to Her- 
od, then back again to Pilate ; and lastly, after en-? 
during a thousand insults and indignities, after hav- 
ing been buffeted, spit upon, and scourged, was car- 
ried to suffer upon the cross the infamous and pain- 
ful death of offending slaves, and the vilest criminals. 
And yet this hungry, houseless, suffering, dying 
Jesus, is by the same writers said to have fed a mul- 
titude of many thousands with five loaves and two 
fishes ; to have commanded the fish of the sea to 
provide him money to pay the tribute ; to have been 
ministered unto by angels ; to have been obeyed 
by the wind and seas ; to have had in himself, and 
to have imparted to his disciples, authority over un- 
clean spirits, and the power of healing all manner of 
diseases; to have raised the dend by a touch, a 
word ; to have been able to have obtained from God, 
whom he called his father, an army of more than 
twelve legions of angels ; a force sufficient not only 
to have rescued him from the sufferings and death 
he deprecated, but to have acquired him the empire 
of the world : and lastly, as an instance of his being 
endued with a power superior even to destruction 
itself, he is said to have risen from the dead, to have 
ascended into heaven, and to sit down forever at the 
right hand of God. From these accounts it is plain, 
that the character of Jesus Christ, as drawn up by 
the evangelists, is a mixture of such seeming incon- 
sistencies, so wonderful a composition of weakness 
and power, humiliation and glory, humanity a*nd di- 
vinity, that as no mere mortal could pretend to come 
up to it, so the wit of man would never have con- 
18 



206 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



ceived and proposed such a one for the founder of 
any sect or religion. The sufferings and cross of 
Christ were, as St. Paul confesses, to the Jews a 
stumbling-block, and foolishness to the Greeks. 
The Jews, it is well known, expected a temporal 
deliverer, an earthly prince, a glorious conquering 
Messiah ; and were therefore so scandalized at the 
low condition and abject fortunes of Jesus, so ill- 
proportioned, as they imagined, to the sublime char- 
acter of the Son of God, that, upon account of those 
human blemishes only, they rejected all the miracu- 
lous evidences of his divine mission, and put him to 
death as a blasphemer, for taking upon him the name, 
without the temporal splendor and power of the 
Messiah. That the disciples of Jesus were tainted 
with the like prejudices with their unbelieving breth- 
ren the Jews, is very natural to believe, and may 
certainly be collected from the writings of the evan- 
gelists, from whom we learn, that when, convinced 
by his miracles, his doctrine, and his life, they had 
acknowledged him to be the Messiah, they were so 
offended at what he told them of his sufferings and 
death, that they refused to believe him ; ' and Peter 
took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, be it far 
from thee, Lord, this shall not be unto thee.' (Matt. 
]6:22.) The despicable condition, the sufferings 
and death of Christ, being admitted, I think it im- 
possible to give one probable reason for supposing 
that the apostles and the evangelists invented the 
other more than human part of his character. Had 
he wrought no miracles, had he not risen from the 
dead, their religious prejudices, as they were Jews, 
must have withheld them forever from acknowledg- 
ing him for their Messiah ; and yet it is notorious, 
that not only they themselves acknowledged him as 
such, but endeavoured to persuade their unbelieving 
brethren, that ' God had made that same Jesus, whom 
they had crucified, both Lord and Christ.' This 
was the great article, the foundation-stone, upon 
which the whole superstructure of Christianity was 
raised ; and to prove this article, they appealed to 



OP THE RESURRECTION. 



207 



his miracles, as so many evidences of his divine mis- 
sion. But here modern unbelievers (for Celsus, who 
lived nearest those times, admits all the miracles of 
Christ, but imputes them to his skill in magic) come 
in with their suspicions, and pretend to call in ques- 
tion the accounts given us of these miracles in the 
evangelists ; which, without any proof, they are 
pleased to take for forgeries. In answer to which 
(not to insist upon the improbability that any man, 
or any set of men in their senses, should venture to 
appeal to their enemies for the truth of facts which 
they themselves knew to be false, especially when 
those enemies had not only the means of detecting 
them, but the inclination and power to punish them 
for their impostures ; not to insist, I say, upon this 
topic, nor upon that which I just now mentioned of 
its being impossible to assign any motive that could 
induce them to be guilty of such a forgery,) I shall 
only observe, that allowing them to have been so 
shameless and so wicked as to invent and propagate 
a set of lies, in order to get credit to their Master 
and his religion, it is strange they should not go one 
step farther, and suppress at- least if not deny his 
infirmities, his sufferings, and his crucifixion, and so 
remove that stumbling-block, which they could not 
but know would be the greatest obstacle to the ad- 
vancement of their religion, as well among the Gen- 
tiles as the Jews. But it will be urged perhaps, 
that his sufferings and crucifixion were too public 
to be denied ; and so, say the evangelists, were most 
of his miracles. And this undoubtedly was the rea- 
son why they were acknowledged by Celsus. To 
suppose therefore that the evangelists, for fear of 
being detected, would confess truths, which mani- 
festly prejudiced their great design of propagating 
the faith in Christ Jesus, and yet would not by the 
same fear of detection be restrained from relating 
untruths, because they might imagine them to be 
advantageous to their cause, is no mark of equity 
and candor, but of partiality and prejudice. But it 
will possibly be said (for what will not infidels say ? 



208 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



and I will add, how strange soever it may sound, 
what will they not believe ?) that the Scriptures 
were forged long after the events recorded in them, 
and consequently long after all the evidences of 
their truth or falsehood were extinct and lost. In 
answer to this it may be again demanded, as in the 
case of the evangelists, how came these later forgers 
to choose the suffering crucified Jesus for the author 
of their religion ? And why, since they were at 
liberty to say what they pleased, without any appre- 
hension of being discovered, why, I say, did they 
relate such things both of him and his disciples, as, 
in the opinion of the world, could not fail of discred- 
iting the faith they preached in his name, and by an 
authority pretended to be derived from him and his 
disciples ? But without entering into these consid- 
erations, it may be sufficient barely to deny this 
charge, till they, who insist upon it, shall be able to 
make it good, by showing either from authentic tes- 
timonies, or even probable and presumptive argu- 
ments, when they were forged, by whom, and to 
what end. Till they are able to do this (which I 
will venture to pronounce will never be,) we have a 
right to insist, for the reasons above given, that the 
Scriptures of the New Testament were written by 
those whose names they bear, and that all the facts 
related in them are most unquestionably true. 

Before I quit this subject, I cannot forbear taking 
notice of one other mark of integrity, which appears 
in all the compositions of the sacred writers, and 
particularly the evangelists, and that is, the simple, 
unaffected, unornamental, and unostentatious man- 
ner, in which they deliver truths, so important and 
sublime ; and facts so magnificent and wonderful, 
as are capable, one would^think, of lighting up a 
flame of oratory, even in the dullest and coldest 
breasts. They speak of an angel descending from 
heaven to foretel the miraculous conception of Jesus, 
of another proclaiming his birth, attended by 4 a 
multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and 
saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



209 



peace, good- will towards men.' Of his star appear- 
ing in the East ; of angels ministering to him in the 
wilderness ; of his glory in the mount; of a voice 
twice heard from heaven, saying, 4 This is my be- 
loved Son ;' of innumerable miracles performed by 
him, and by his disciples in his name ; of his know- 
ing the thoughts of men ; of his foretelling future 
events ; of prodigies and wonders accompanying his 
crucifixion and death ; of an angel descending in 
terrors, opening his sepulchre, and frightening away 
the soldiers, who were set to guard it ; of his rising 
from the dead, ascending into heaven, and pouring 
down, according to his promise, the various and mi- 
raculous gifts of the Holy Spirit upon his apostles 
and disciples. All these amazing incidents do these 
inspired historians relate nakedly and plainly, with- 
out any of the colourings and heightenings of rhet- 
oric, or so much as a single note of admiration ; 
without making any comment or remark upon them, 
or drawing from them any conclusion, in honour 
either of their Master or themselves, or to the ad- 
vantage of the religion they preached in his name ; 
but contenting themselves with relating the naked 
truth, whether it seems to make for them or against 
them : without either magnifying on the one hand, 
or palliating on the other, they leave their cause to 
the unbiassed judgment of mankind, seeking, like 
genuine apostles of the Lord of truth, to convince 
rather than to persuade ; and, therefore, 4 coming,' 
as St. Paul speaks of his own preaching, 4 not with 
excellency of speech, not with enticing words of 
man's wisdom, but with demonstration of the Spirit, 
and of power, that,' adds he, 4 your faith should not 
stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of 
God' ( 1 Cor. 2:2; 4:5). And let it be remembered, 
that he who speaks this wanted not learning, art, or 
eloquence, as is evident from his speeches recorded 
in the Acts of the Apostles, and from the testimony 
of that great critic, Longinus, who in reckoning up 
the Grecian orators, places among them Paul of 



210 HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



Tarsus ; # and surely had they been left solely to the 
suggestions and guidance of human wisdom, they 
would not have failed to lay hold on such topics as 
the wonders of their Master's life, and the transcen- 
dent purity and perfection of the noble, generous, 
benevolent morality contained in his precepts, fur- 
nished them with. These topics, I say, greater than 
ever Tully, or Demosthenes, or Plato, were possess- 
ed of, mere human wisdom would doubtless have 
prompted them to make use of, in order to recom- 
mend, in the strongest manner, the religion of Christ 
Jesus to mankind, by turning their attention to the 
divine part of his character, and hiding, as it were, 
in a blaze of heavenly light and glory, his infirmities, 
his sufferings, and his death. And had they upon 
such topics as these, and in such a cause, called in 
to their assistance all the arts of composition, rheto- 
ric, and logic, who would have blamed them for it ? 
Not those persons, 1 presume, who, dazzled and 
captivated with the glittering ornaments of human 
wisdom, make a mock at the simplicity of the Gos- 
pel, and think it wit to ridicule the style and lan- 
guage of the Holy Scriptures. But the all-wise 
Spirit of God, by* whom these sacred writers were 
guided into all truth, thought fit to direct or permit 
them to proceed in a different method ; a method, 
however, very analogous to that in which he hath 
been pleased to reveal himself to us in the great 
book of nature, the stupendous frame of the universe ; 
all whose wonders he hath judged it sufficient to lay 
before us in silence, and expects, from our observa- 
tions, the proper comments and deductions, which, 
having endued us with reason, he hath enabled us 
to make. And though a careless and superficial 
spectator may fancy he perceives, even in this fair 
volume, many inconsistencies, defects, and super- 
fluities ; yet to a diligent, unprejudiced, and rational 
inquirer, who will take the pains to examine the 
laws, consider and compare the several parts, and 



* Yide Long. Frag- edit, Fearer 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



211 



regard their use and tendency, with reference to the 
whole design of this amazing structure, as far as his 
short abilities can carry him, there will appear in 
those instances, which he is capable of knowing-, 
such evident characters of wisdom, goodness, and 
power, as will leave him no room to doubt of their 
author, or to suspect, that in those particulars which 
he hath not examined, or to t a thorough knowledge 
of which he cannot perhaps attain, there is nothing 
but folly, weakness, and malignity. The same thing 
may be said of the ivritten book, the second volume 
(if 1 may so speak) of the Revelation of God, the 
Holy Scriptures. For as in the first, so also in this 
are there many passages, that to a cursory, unob- 
serving reader appear idle, unconnected, unaccount- 
able, and inconsistent with those marks of truth, 
wisdom, justice, mercy, and benevolence, which in 
others are so visible, that the most careless and in- 
attentive cannot but discern them. And even these, 
many of them at least, will often be found, upon a 
closer and stricter examination, to accord and coin- 
cide with the other more plain and more intelligible 
passages, and to be no heterogeneous parts of one 
and the same wise and harmonious composition. In 
both indeed, in the natural as well as the moral book 
of God, there are, and ever will be, many difficulties, 
which the wit of man may never be able to resolve ; 
but will a wise philosopher, because he cannot com- 
prehend every thing he sees, reject for that reason 
all the truths which lie within his reach, and let a 
few inexplicable difficulties overbalance the many 
plain and infallible evidences of the finger of God, 
which appear in all parts, both of his created and 
written works ? Or will he presume so far upon his 
own wisdom as to say, God ought to have expressed 
himself more clearly ? The point and exact degree 
of clearness, which will equally suit the different 
capacities of men in different ages and countries, 
will, 1 believe, be found more difficult to fix than is 
imagined ; since what is clear to one man in a cer- 
tain situation of mind, time, and place, would inev- 



212 HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 

itably be obscure to another, who views it in other 
positions, and under other circumstances. How va- 
rious, and even contradictory, are the readings and 
comments, which several men, in the several ages 
and climates of the world, have made upon nature I 
And yet her characters are equally legible, and her 
laws equally intelligible in all times and in all places ; 
' there is no speech nor language where her voice is 
not heard. Her sound is gone out through all the 
earth, and her words to the ends of the world.' All 
these misinterpretations, therefore, and misconstruc- 
tions of her works are chargeable only upon mankind, 
who have set themselves to study them with various 
degrees of capacity, application, and impartiality. 
The question then should be, Why hath God given 
men such various talents ? And not, Why hath not 
God expressed himself more clearly ? And the an- 
swer to this question, as far as it concerns man to 
know, is, that God will require of him according to 
what he hath, and not according to what he hath 
not. If what is necessary for all to know, is know- 
able by all ; those men, upon whom God hath been 
pleased to bestow capacities and faculties superior 
to the vulgar, have certainly no just reason to com- 
plain of his having left them materials for the exer- 
cise of those talents, which, if all things were equally 
plain to all men, would be of no great advantage to 
the possessors. If, therefore, there are in the sacred 
writings, as well as in the works of nature, many 
passages hard to be understood, it were to be wished 
that the wise and learned, instead of being offended 
at them, and teaching others to be so too, would be 
persuaded, that both God and man expect that they 
would set themselves to consider and examine them 
carefully and impartially, and with a sincere desire 
of discovering and embracing the truth, not with an 
arrogant unphilosophical conceit of their being al- 
ready sufficiently wise and knowing. And then I 
doubt not but most of those objections to revelation, 
which are now urged with the greatest confidence, 
would be cleared up and removed, like those for- 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 213 

merly made to creation, and the being" and providence 
of God, by those most ignorant, most absurd, and 
yet most self-sufficient pretenders to reason and 
philosophy, the atheists and sceptics. 



SECTION XXVL 

Negative Evidence of the Veracity and Inspiration 
of the Apostles and Evangelists. 

To these internal evidences of the veracity (and 
may I not add inspiration ?) of the apostles and evan- 
gelists, I shall beg leave to subjoin two external 
proofs of great weight in an inquiry into the reasons 
we have for giving credit to their testimony, the one 
negative, the other positive. 

The negative proof is contained in this proposition, 
viz: That out of the great number of facts related 
by the sacred writers, public and extraordinary as 
they are said to have been, not one in the course of 
now almost seventeen hundred years, hath ever 
been disproved or falsified. Denied indeed many 
of them have been, and still are ; but there is a great 
deal of difference between denying and disproving. 
To prove a fact to be false, it is necessary that the 
positive and probable evidence brought against it 
should overbalance that produced in support of it. 
In opposition to the testimony of the disciples of 
Jesus Christ, asserting that he was risen from the 
dead, the chief priests and elders of the Jews affirm- 
ed, that his disciples stole away his body, and then 
gave out that he was risen ; in maintenance of which 
charge they produced, as St. Matthew ('28: 13) tells 
us, the Roman soldiers, who were set to guard the 
sepulchre, who deposed, that 'his disciples came by 
mght and stole him away while they slept,' Not to 



214 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



insist again upon the absurdity of this report, as it 
stands in the evangelist, and taking it as it was af- 
terwards prudently amended by the sanhedrim, and 
propagated by an express deputation from them to 
all the synagogues of the* Jews, throughout the 
world, in which, without making any mention of the 
Roman guard, they say no more than that the disci- 
ples came by night, and stole away the body ; taking 
it, I say, in the manner in which those wise coun- 
sellors were, upon maturer deliberation, pleased to 
put it, it may be sufficient to observe, that this theft 
charged upon the disciples was so far from being 
proved, that it was not so much as ever inquired 
into. And yet the accusers were the chief priests 
and elders of the Jews ; men in high reverence and 
authority with the people, vested with all the power 
of the state, and consequently furnished with all the 
means of procuring informations, and of gaining or 
extorting a confession. And what were the accus- 
ed ? Men of low birth, mean fortunes, without 
learning, without credit, without support; and who 
out of pusillanimity and fear had deserted their 
Master, upon the first occasion offered of showing 
their fidelity and attachment to him. And can it be 
imagined, that the chief priests and council would 
have made no inquiry into a fact, the belief of which 
they took so much pains to propagate, had they 
themselves been persuaded of the truth of it ? And 
had tbey inquired into it, can it be supposed, that 
out of such a number of mean persons as must have 
been privy to it, no one, either from honesty or re- 
ligion, the fear of punishment or hope of reward, 
would have betrayed the secret, and given them 
such intelligence as might have enabled them to put 
the question of the resurrection out of all dispute ? 
For had it been once proved, that the disciples stole 
away the body of Jesus, their words would hardly 
have been taken for his resurrection. But how did 
these poor men act? Conscious of no fraud or im- 



* Juatin. Martyr. Dial : cum Tryph. Jud. 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



215 



posture, they remained in Jerusalem a week or more, 
after the report of their having stolen their Master's 
body was spread over the city ; and in about a month 
returned thither again ; not long after which, they 
asserted boldly to the face of their powerful enemies 
and accusers, the chief priests and elders, that 'God 
had raised from the dead that same Jesus, whom 
they had crucified.' And what was the behaviour 
of these learned rabbins, these watchful guardians 
of the Jewish church and state ? Why, they suffer- 
ed the disciples of Jesus, charged by their order 
with an imposture tending to disturb the govern- 
ment, to continue unquestioned at Jerusalem, and 
to depart from thence unmolested. And when, 
upon their return thither, they had caused them to 
be seized, and brought before them, for (Acts 4) 
'preaching through Jesus the resurrection of the 
dead,' what did they say to them ? Did they charge 
them with having stolen away the body of their 
Master? Nothing like it. On the contrary, not be- 
ing able to gainsay the testimony given by the apos- 
tles to the resurrection of Jesus, vouchsafed by a 
miracle just then performed by them in his name, 
they ordered them to withdraw, and (Acts 4: 15 — 
22) 'conferred among themselves, saying, What 
shall we do to these men ? for that indeed a notable 
miracle hath been done by them is manifest to all 
them that dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny 
it. But that it spread no farther among the people, 
let us straitly threaten them, that they speak hence- 
forth to no man in this name : And they called them, 
and commanded them not to speak at all, nor teach 
in the name of Jesus. Peter and John answered, 
and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight 
of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, 
judge ye : for we cannot but speak the things which 
we have seen and heard. So when they had farther 
threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing 
how they might punish them.' Who, after hearing 
this account, could ever imagine that the disciples 
stole the body of Jesus ? or that the chief priests 



216 HISTORY" AND EVIDENCES 



and elders themselves believed they did ? But it 
may perhaps be objected, that this account comes 
from Christian writers. And could the objectors 
expect to meet with it in Jewish authors ? We 
might indeed expect to find in their writings some 
proofs of this charge upon the disciples ; and had 
there been any, the chief priests, and the other ad- 
versaries of Christ, would doubtless not have failed 
to produce them. But the progress that Christianity 
made at that time in Jerusalem is a stronger argu- 
ment than even their silence, that no proof of this 
charge either was or could be made. Could the 
apostles have had the impudence to preach, and 
could so many thousand Jews have been weak 
enough to believe upon their testimony, that Christ 
was risen from the dead, had it been proved that his 
disciples stole away his body ? An infidel may, if 
he pleases, believe this, but let him account for it if 
he can. 

I have dwelt the longer upon the examination of 
_ this pretended theft of the disciples, because it is 
the only fact I know of, that hath been set up in op- 
position to the many facts upon which the evidence 
of the resurrection is founded. How defective it is 
in point of proof, whether probable or positive, I 
need not point out to the reader. But I cannot help 
observing, that those, who deny that any guard was 
placed at the sepulchre, take from it the only posi- 
tive evidence that was ever brought to support it, 
viz: the depositions of the Roman soldiers. 

Among the many extraordinary particulars related 
by the sacred writers, the miracles performed by 
Christ and his apostles, as they were almost without 
number, and wrought most commonly in public, in 
the presence of unbelieving Jews and Gentiles, 
yielded the fairest occasion to the opposers of the 
Gospel, of overturning the credit of the evangelical 
historians. And yet the pitiful solutions, which Pa- 
gan and Jewish writers have been reduced to make 
use of, in order to take off the conclusion drawn from 
these miracles by the Christians, form a very strong 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



217 



presumption, that they were not to be disproved. 
Some, as* Celsus, have imputed them to magic : 
others, as the Jews, have attributed them to the in- 
effable name of God, which,f say they, Jesus stole 
out of the temple. Both of them have admitted the 
facts. I shall not go about to show the absurdity of 
either of these two ways of accounting for those 
miraculous operations. But I must hence take oc- 
casion to beg the reader to reflect a little upon the 
strange perverseness of the human mind, the vanity 
of reason, and the force of prejudice. Celsus be- 
lieved magic, the Jews had faith in amulets ; and 
yet both one and the other disbelieved Christianity. 



SECTION XXVII. 

Positive Evidence of the Veracity and Inspiration 
of the Sacred Writers, 

The positive proof of the veracity of the sacred 
writers is founded on the exact accomplishment of 
the predictions of our Saviour and his apostles re- 
corded in the New Testament. 

That I may not draw out this article into an ex- 
cessive and unnecessary length, I shall make no 
remarks upon those predictions, whose accomplish- 
ment is to be found in the Scriptures themselves ; 
some of which 1 have already taken notice of. The 
Scriptures, infidels perhaps will say, were written 
after these events, and the predictions, therefore, 
probably adapted to them. But they who make this 
objection will gain little by it, since, if they admit 
the events, it will be no difficult matter to demon- 
strate the truth of Christianity. Besides, the reader 

* See Origen contra Celsum. 

| See Universal History, vol. iv. p. 200. Note (1.) 



218 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



himself may, with very little pains, find out and 
compare these predictions with their several com- 
pletions. 

The prophecies I shall produce relate to the dif- 
ferent states of the Jews and Gentiles ; different 
not only from each other, but very different from 
that, in which they both were at the time when these 
prophecies were written. To have a perfect under- 
standing of which, it will be necessary to take a 
general view of the religious state (for that is prin- 
cipally regarded in these prophecies) of the nations 
distinguished by the names of Jews and Gentiles. 

From the time of the covenant (or compact) which 
God was pleased to make with Abraham and his 
descendants, and to renew with the whole body of 
the Israelites under Moses, the Jews became the 
peculiar 'people of God a phrase sufficiently jus- 
tified and explained by the terms or conditions of 
the covenant ; which, on the part of the Israelites, 
were the taking God only for their Lord, and paying 
obedience to the law, the ceremonial as well as 
moral law, which he had given them. On the part 
of God were stipulated temporal blessings, and his 
almighty protection to the Jews, as long as they 
should adhere to the conditions entered into by them. 
By virtue of this covenant, the Jews acknowledged 
God for their king, and God governed them, as his 
subjects, by his deputies and viceroys, the prophets, 
judges, and kings of Israel. Moses, the mediator of 
this covenant, was the first of these deputies ; and 
the Messiah, who was to be the Mediator of a new 
covenant, was to be the last. By him the new cov- 
enant was to be offered, first, indeed, to the Jews, 
with whom the covenant, mediated by Moses, was 
till then to be in force. But the other was not to be 
limited to that people only. The Gentiles, that is, 
all the nations of the earth, who were no parties to 
the former covenant, were to be invited to accede 
to this ; and all those, of whatsoever nation they 
were, who should acknowledge the Messiah as a 
king, appointed by God to reign over them, were to 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 219 



be admitted into this covenant, and be reputed 
thenceforward the 4 people of God.' But as the lim- 
its of this divine empire were to be altered and en- 
larged, it became necessary to alter and enlarge the 
terms of government. The ceremonial law was na- 
tional and local. And though, without some such 
religious and political bond of union, the Jews would 
not, in all probability, have long continued the sep- 
arate and peculiar people of God ; yet as most of 
the duties prescribed by that law were confined to 
the Holy Land, and even to the holy city of Jerusa- 
lem, the Gentiles, who were now to be taken into 
the covenant, could not possibly comply with it. 
This therefore was, of necessity, to be abolished. 
But the moral law, the basis and end of the former 
covenant, was, in like manner, to be the end and 
basis of the new one. To this, both the Gentiles 
and Jews could pay obedience, as well as to the 
other terms superadded to it in the new covenant, 
viz : the acknowledging the Messiah for their king ; 
and, as an outward token of their allegiance and 
accession to this covenant, receiving baptism, and 
commemorating, from time to time, by the celebra- 
tion of the Eucharist, the sealing this covenant on 
the part of God by the death of Christ. Which two 
sacraments, properly so called, may be styled the 
ceremonial law of the Christians, as circumcision, 
and other ritual duties, were of the Jews. 

Of the twelve tribes of Israel, who were parties 
to the Mosaical covenant, ten fell at once from their 
allegiance to God under Jeroboam; and, ceasing 
from that time to be the people or subjects of God, 
he ceased to be their king; and, withdrawing his 
protection, suffered them to be carried into a cap- 
tivity, from which they never afterwards returned ; 
but, being lost and confounded with the nations, 
among whom they were transplanted, were thence- 
forward no more heard of as a distinct and separate 
people. The two remaining tribes were then the 
only people of God ; and, as such, though often pun- 
ished by him for their frequent transgressions of his 



220 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



laws, and even carried captive to Babylon, were by 
his providence brought again to the land of Canaan, 
and restored to a capacity of complying with the 
terms of their covenant, by the rebuilding the city 
and temple of Jerusalem. From that time they were 
very exact in their observance of the ceremonial law, 
but had most grossly corrupted the moral law, and 
rendered it, as*Christ told them, of no effect, by the 
comments and traditions of their scribes and phari- 
sees. This was the state of the Jews when Jesus 
the Messiah, that great prophet and king, foretold 
by Moses and all the prophets, came to offer them 
a new covenant. 

The state of the Gentiles was far more deplorable. 
They had, for many ages, transferred their obedi- 
ence from the one supreme God, creator of heaven 
and earth, to his creatures, or to deities of their own 
devising ; under whose imaginary protection they 
had ranged themselves by nations and communities : 
and were become, almost in the same sense as the 
Israelites were styled the people of God, the people 
of the Egyptian Isis, Assyrian Belus, Athenian Pal- 
las, Ephesian Diana, and Capitolian Jove, &c. But 
there was this farther difference between them: the 
God of the Israelites, like a righteous and equitable 
sovereign, had given his people a law, to be the rule 
of their obedience ; or rather had confirmed and 
enforced the original law, which from the very be- 
ginning he had written in the hearts, that is, the 
reason of all mankind, adding to it such other insti- 
tutions as their particular situation then required. 
While the Gentiles, having, by their idolatry, fallen 
from their obedience to that original universal law, 
were left thenceforward, like outlaws and rebels, to 
frame to themselves such rules, both moral and reli- 
gious, as the fancied caprice of their deities, or their 
own perverted reason, should suggest ; whence it 
came to pass, that they were overrun with immoral- 
ity and superstition. And though some of the wisest 
among them, by following the yet glimmering light 
of reason, had become sensible of many of their 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



221 



grossest errors, and had endeavoured to reform some 
abuses ; yet had superstition taken so strong a hold 
on the majority, that, till that was entirely rooted 
out, it was impossible to bring them back to what is 
called the religion of nature, that is, the religion of 
reason ; were we to allow those wise men to haVe 
been as well acquainted with it, in all its branches, 
as, since Christianity, some have pretended to be. 
But with the superstition of their countries those 
wise men thought better to comply than to contend. 
And, had they attacked it with the intrepidity and 
industry of the apostles, it is much to be questioned, 
whether, with all their eloquence and logic, they 
would have gained the victory. Such' was the dark 
and hopeless condition of the Gentiles. 

In this state of the Jews and Gentiles, our Saviour, 
after having represented to the former, under the 
parable of a 'certain householder, who planted a 
vineyard, and let it out to husbandmen' (Matt. 21 : 
43, 44,) the righteous dealings of God to them, and 
the ill returns they had made to him, by not only 
refusing him the fruits, but murdering the servants 
he had sent to demand them, and lastly his son ; and 
after having extorted from them a confession, that 
those wicked husbandmen ought to be miserably 
punished, and the vineyard taken from them, and 
given to 'other husbandmen, who should render him 
the fruits in their season,' spoke to them the follow- 
ing words : ' Did ye never read in Scriptures, The 
stone which the builders rejected, the same is be- 
come the head of the corner: this is the Lord's do- 
ing, and it is marvellous in our eyes ? therefore say 
I to you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from 
you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits 
thereof : and whosoever shall fall on this stone, shall 
be broken ; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will 
grind him to powder.' By these words are plainly 
signified, First, The transferring the kingdom of 
God from the Jews to the Gentiles ; Secondly, The 
obedience of the Gentiles ; and, Thirdly, The mis- 
erable punishment of the Jews, for their having re- 



222 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



jected and murdered the Son of God. There are 
many other prophecies relating to each of these 
events scattered up and down the Gospels, which I 
think it needless to produce, this being so very full 
and explicit. I shall therefore set about showing 
the exact accomplishment of it in its several parts. 

The kingdom of God, as may be collected from 
what is said above, denotes the spiritual or moral 
dominion of God over moral subjects, that is, free 
agents ; and by the people of God are signified, such 
free agents as freely and voluntarily acknowledge 
the sovereignty of God, by worshipping him, and 
receiving and obeying all those laws, whether nat- 
ural or revealed, which appear to have been enacted 
by him. The Jews, therefore, by rejecting Jesus 
Christ, who proved himself to have been commis* 
sioned and sent by God, not only from the testimony 
of Moses and all their prophets, the holiness of his 
life and doctrine, and the numberless miracles he 
wrought among them, but still more plainly, if pos- 
sible, by his rising from the dead, and empowering 
his disciples to work the same mighty signs and 
wonders in his name ; the Jews, I say, by rejecting 
this messenger, this Son of God, and refusing to re- 
ceive the laws which he proposed to them in his 
Father's name, evidently renounced their allegiance 
to God, and ceased to be his people or subjects. 
And the Gentiles, on the other hand, by renouncing 
their vices and idolatrous superstitions, returning to 
the worship of God. and receiving his Messiah, to- 
gether with the laws proposed to them by him in the 
name of God, as evidently put themselves under the 
dominion of God, acknowledged his empire, and be- 
came the people or subjects of God. And hence 
appears what is meant by the kingdom of God being 
taken from the Jews and given to the Gentiles. 
God removed the throne whereon David, and his 
posterity, had sat as his substitutes and viceroys, 
from among the Jews, who renounced his authority, 
and from earth to heaven ; and, placing it at his right 
hand, and setting upon it his Messiah, his only Son, 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



223 



gave him for his subjects, not one nation only, 'but 
all nations, and kindreds, and people, and all the 
ends of the earth for his dominion.' That the king- 
dom of God was, in this sense, and in this manner, 
actually transferred from the Jews to the Gentiles, 
is too notorious to need any proof. The Jews, as a 
nation, rejected the Gospel, and persisted in their 
refusal of the Messiah, till the final destruction of 
their holy city and temple ; and, what is yet more 
strange, still persevere in their obstinacy. Whereas 
the Gentiles embraced it so universally, that, within 
a few centuries after Christ, almost the whole Ro- 
man empire, that is, almost all the then known world, 
forsook idolatry, and became Christian. And God 
on his part testified that he entered into covenant 
with them, and accepted their allegiance, by pouring 
upon them the gifts of his Holy Spirit ; as he signi- 
fied, on the other hand, his renunciation of the Mo- 
saic al covenant, by not only suffering the seat of his 
empire, the city and temple of Jerusalem, to be ut- 
terly destroyed, but permitting the Jews also to be 
banished from the Holy Land, and scattered through 
all the nations of the earth. And thus was this 
prophecy most exactly accomplished in all its parts % 



SECTION XXVIII. 

Testimony from the Fulfilment of Christ's Predictions. 

Besides the general change in the state of the 
Jews and Gentiles, expressed in this prophecy, many 
particulars relating to the condition of the Jewish 
nation were most precisely foretold by our Saviour 
Christ. As, first, the destruction of the city and 
temple of Jerusalem. ; Secondly, the signs and won* 



224 HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



ders preceding that destruction : Thirdly, the mis- 
eries of the Jews before, at, and after the famous 
siege of that city : Fourthly, the dispersion of that 
reprobated people: Fifthly, the duration of their ca- 
lamity : and, Sixthly, their restoration. 

'Our Saviour foretold the destruction of the tem- 
ple, after it had stood almost 500 years, in these 
words : "Seest thou these great buildings ? There 
shall not be left one stone upon another, which shall 
not be thrown down." (Mark 13 :2.) And this pre- 
diction was completed by Titus,* who, saith Jose- 
phus, commanded his soldiers to dig up the founda- 
tions both of the temple and the city. And both the 
Jewish Talmud and Maimonides add, that Terentius 
Rufus, the captain of his army, did, with a plough- 
share, tear up the foundation of the temple. 

'With like exactness and paticularity did our Lord 
foretel the ruin of the city of Jerusalem : " The 
days," saith he, " shall come upon thee, that thine 
enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass 
thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall 
lay thee even with the ground, and shall not leave 
in thee one, stone upon another." Now that the 
event completely answered the prediction is evident 
from the Jewish historian, who tells us expressly, 
that "Titus having commanded his soldiers to dig 
up the city, this was so fully done, by levelling the 
whole compass of the city, except three towers, that 
they who came to see it were persuaded it would 
never be built again." The same historian informs 
us, that " when Vespasian besieged Jerusalem, his 
army compassed the city round about, and kept them 
in on every side $ and though it was judged a great 
and almost impracticable work to compass the whole 
city with a wall, yet Titus animating his soldiers to 
attempt it, they in three days built a wall of thirty* 
nine furlongs, having thirteen castles on it ; and so 

* See for this, and most of the following articles, Dr. Whitby's 
General Preface ; which, together with his other preface, I would 
recommend to the perusal of all those who read for the sake pf 
teaming Jh£ iruth, and npt far amusginenr. pnjy f 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



225 



cut off all hopes, that any of the Jews within the city 
should escape." 

' In the 2 1st chapter of St, Luke, Christ, speaking 
of the destruction of Jerusalem, says (ver. 1J,) "And 
great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and 
famines, and pestilencies, and fearful sights, and 
great signs shall there be from heaven."" 

4 Now to omit the frequent earthquakes that hap- 
pened in other places in the times of Claudius and 
Nero, Josephus informs us, that there happened, in 
Judea and Jerusalem, "an immense tempest, and 
vehement winds, with rain, and frequent lightnings, 
and dreadful thundering, and extreme roarings of 
the quaking earth, which manifested to all, that the 
world was disturbed at the destruction of men ; w 
and that these prodigies portended no small mis- 
chiefs. Josephus hath a particular chapter of the 
manifest signs of the approaching desolation of the 
Jews ; which Tacitus, a Roman historian of that 
age., almost epitomizes in these words : " Armies 
seemed to meet in the clouds, and glittering weapons 
were there seen ; the temple seemed to be in a 
flame, with fire issuing from the clouds, and a voice 
more than human was heard., declaring, that the de- 
ities were quitting the place ; which was attended 
with the sound of a great motion, as if they were de- 
parting." Josephus adds, what Tacitus also touches 
ypon, that the great gate of the temple, which twenty 
men could scarcely shut, and which was made fast 
by bolts and bars, " was seen to open of its own ac- 
cord: that a sword appeared hanging over the city: 
that a comet was seen pointing down upon it for a 
whole year together: And that before the sun went 
down, there were seen armies in battle-array, and 
chariots compassing the country, and investing the 
cities: a thing so strange," saith he, "that it would 
pass for a fable, were there not men living to attest 
it." So particular an account have we of the fearful 
sights, and signs from heaven, mentioned by our 
Lord. 

'Qus blessed Lord is as express in the predictions 



226 II IS TORY A ND EVI&ENCE5 



of the miseries which should befal that sinfut nation^ 
miseries so great, as to admit no parallel. 64 There 
shall be," saith he," great tribulation, such as never 
happened from the beginning of the world to this 
time." ( Matt. 24 l21 .) Which words Josephus seems 
to have transcribed, when he says, "Never was any 
nation more wicked, nor ever did a city suffer as 
they did." Nay,, in another place, he goes- so far as 
to say, "All the miseries which all mankind had 
suffered from the beginning of the world, were not 
to be compared with those the Jewish nation did 
then suffer." And indeed, the account he gives of 
the numbers who perished in that siege is almost 
incredible ; and much more so is what the Talmud, 
and other Jewish writers, mention of the slaughter 
which Hadrian's army made of them fifty-two years 
after, when they, rebelled under Barchochebas, and 
were besieged in the city Bitter. And yet our Sa- 
viour having farther said, " That wherever the car- 
cass was [that is the Jews J there should the eagles 
[that is, the Roman armies} be gathered together'* 
(Matt. 24 : 28) ; they were accordingly harrassed and 
destroyed throughout the Roman empire. When,, 
saith Josephus, ''the Romans had no enemies left in 
Judea, the danger reached to many of them living 
the remotest from it :"' for many of them, perished at 
Alexandria, at Cyrene, and in other cities of Egypt, 
to the number of sixty thousand, in all the cities of 
Syria. In a word, Eleazar, in Josephus, having 
reckoned many places where they were cruelly 
slaughtered, concludes with saying, "it would be 
too long to speak of these places in particular." 

1 Again, our Saviour adds, " That they should be 
led captives into all nations." Accordingly, Jose- 
phus informs us, "that the number of Jewish cap- 
tives was ninety-seven thousand : that of them Titus 
sent many to Egypt, and most of them he dispersed 
into the Roman provinces ;" and so exactly fulfilled 
this prediction..' 

The duration of the calamity of the Jews, and 
their restoration, are signified in these words ; 4 Je^ 



I 

^OP THE RESURRECTION. 227 

rusalem shall be trodded down* of the Gentiles, til) 
the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.' (Luke 21 : 24.) 
* This so exactly came to pass, that Vespasian com- 
manded the whole land of Judea to be sold to those 
Gentiles that would buy it ; and Hadrian, about 
sixty- three years after, made a law, that no Jew 
should come into the region round about Jerusalem, 
as Aristo Pellssus, who was himself a Jew, and flour- 
ished in the very time of Hadrian, relates. Thus, 
saith Eusebius, "it came to pass, that the Jews be- 
ing banished thence, and there being a conflux 
thither of aliens, it became a city and colony of the 
Romans, and was, in honour of the emperor [Ha- 
drian,] named iElia." Jerusalem, saith Christ, " shall 
be thus trodden down,"" 5 or subject to the Gentiles, 
"till the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled ;" that is, 
till by the conversion of the Jews to the Christian 
faith, the fulness of the Gentiles to be converted, it 
should come in with them: "For blindness," saith 
the apostle, "hath happened to the Jews, till the 
fulness of the Gentiles shall come in, and then all 
Israel shall be saved ;" and with them also the yet 
heathen Gentiles. (Rom. 2 : 25, 26.) " For if," saith 
he, "the casting away of the Jews was the recon- 
ciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them 
be to it, but even life for the dead ?" (Rom. 2 : 15.) 
And again, u iF the fall of them were the riches of 
the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of 
the Gentiles, how much more shall their fulness be 
the fulness of the Gentiles ?" (Rom. 2 : 12.) Now 
here it is especially observable, that Julian the apos- 
tate, designing to defeat this prophecy of Christ, 
resolved on the rebuilding of the city and temple of 
Jerusalem in its old station, which was till his time 
left in ruins, J3Ma being built without the circuit of 
it. For in his epistle to the community of the Jews, 
he writes thus: "The holy city of Jerusalem, which 
you have so long desired to see inhabited, rebuilding 

* The Greek word is -rraTovjjieprj, possessed and trodden by the 
feet of the Gentiles. 



228 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



by my own labours, I will dwell in." This be began 
with an endeavour to build that temple, in which 
alone tbe Jews would offer up their prayers and 
sacrifices: but the immediate hand of Providence 
soon forced the workmen to desist from that unhappy 
enterprise. Ammianus Marcellinus, an heathen, 
who live^ in those very times, gives us the story 
thus i " That Julian endeavoured to rebuild the tem- 
ple at Jerusalem with vast expense, and gave it in 
charge to Alypius of Antioch to hasten the work,, 
and to the governor of the province to assist him in 
it; in which work, when Alypius was earnestly em- 
pIoyed,and the governor of the province- was assist- 
ing, terrible balis of flame, bursting forth near the 
foundations with frequent insults, and burning divers 
times the workmen, rendered the place inaccessible ; 
and thus the fire obstinately repelling them, the 
work ceased.** 

4 The story is very signal, and remarkable for 
many circumstances ; as, first, The persons that re- 
late it; Asnmianus Marcellinus, an heathen; Ze- 
much David, a Jew, who confesses that Julian was, 
divinities impeditus, hindered by God in this attempt ; 
Nazianzen and Chrysostom, among the Greeks : St. 
Ambrose and Ruffinus, among the Latins, who flour- 
ished": at the very time when this was done ; Theo- 
doret and Sozomen, orthodox historians ; Philostor- 
gius, an Arian ; Socrates, a favourer of the Nova- 
tions, who wrote tbe story within the space of fifty 
years after the thrngr was done, and whilst the eye- 
witnesses of the fact were yet surviving. 

'Secondly, The time when it was performed ; not 
in the reigm of Christian emperors ; but of the most 
bitter enemies of Christians, when they were forced 
to hide, and had not liberty of speaking for them- 
selves. Observe, 

'Thirdly, With what confidence Christians urge 
this matter of fact against the Jews, as a convincing 
demonstration of the expiration of their lesral wor- 
ship, and of the certainty of Christian faith against 
the heathen philosophers, inquiring "What the wise 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



229 



men of the world can say to these things ?" And 
against the emperor Theodosius, to deter him from 
requiring thern to rebuild a synagogue, which had 
been lately burned by a Christian bishop. 

'Fourthly, and lastly, The unquestionable evi- 
dence of the thing: "this," say the Christians, "all 
men freely do believe and speak of; it is in the 
mouths of all men, and is not denied even by the 
atheists themselves ; and if it seem yet incredible 
to any one, he may repair for the truth of it both to 
the witnesses of it yet living, and to them who have 
heard it from their mouths : yea, they may view the 
foundations lying still bare and naked ; and if you 
ask the reason, you will meet with no other account 
besides that which I have given ; and of this all we 
Christians are witnesses, these things being done 
not long since, in our own time." So St. Crysostom.' 

The reader, who is inclined to see many particu- 
lars of the predictions of our Saviour, which relate 
to this remarkable catastrophe, and which I have 
omitted for brevity's sake, and how they were veri- 
fied by the event, will do well to consult Dr. Whitby's 
preface, from whence the above articles are taken. 

The observations I have to make on these proph- 
ecies are as follow: — 

First, The common objection made to prophecies 
in general, that they are so obscure and figurative 
as not to be expounded but by the event, cannot be 
urged against these, which are conceived in words 
as simple and intelligible as those made use of by 
the historian, who relates the events corresponding 
with them. 

Secondly, It is very remarkable, that of the four 
evangelists, St. John alone, who is said to have sur- 
vived the destruction of Jerusalem, makes no men- 
tion either of these prophecies, or their accomplish- 
ment. Of the other three, in whose Gospels they 
are to be found, St. Matthew and St. Mark died 
confessedly before that period ; the time of St. 
Luke's death is uncertain. May we not then, from 
hence, very iairfy conclude, that this remarkable 



230 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES' 



silence of the beloved disciple, with regard to proph- 
ecies of such importance to the credit of his Lord, 
and his religion* was ordered from above, lest unbe- 
lievers should say, what some had said of the pre- 
dictions of Daniel, that they were written after the 
event? 

Thirdly, As to the prediction relating to the dura- 
tion of the calamity of the Jewish people, and their 
restoration, though that is the only one of all those 
above-cited not yet perfectly accomplished ; I beg 
leave, however, to observe, that not only the mirac- 
ulous defeating of the emperor Julian's attempt to 
rebuild the city and temple of Jerusalem, but the 
present extraordinary condition of the Jews, is such 
a warrant and proof, that this prophecy also will 
have its accomplishment in due time, as cannot fail 
of powerfully striking those who will open their eyes 
to view it. "To induce the unobserving and unthink- 
ing people of this age to do this, and to assist them 
in considering this living evidence of the truth of 
Christianity,- which lies within their notice, and even 
at their very doors, I shall lay before them some 
observations of an excellent* French author upon 
this subject, whom I choose rather to translate than 
to give his arguments in my own words* 



SECTION XXIX. 

Argument from the Preservation of the Jews as a 
distinct People. 

* f But neither the dispersion of the Jews into all 
nations, nor the general contempt into which they 
are fallen, are so extraordinary as their preservation 

* Prineipes de la Foy Chretieirae. torn, i., chap. xvi. 
t See the preceding chapter. 



OP THE RESURRECTION. 



231 



for so many ages, notwithstanding this their disper- 
sion throughout the earth, and the universal con- 
tempt which all nations have for them. 

'Without a singular providence, a people disunited, 
and divided into an infinite number of distinct fami- 
lies, banished into countries whose language and 
customs were different from theirs, must have been 
mingled and confounded with other nations, and all 
traces of them must, these many ages past, have 
entirely disappeared. 

4 For they not only subsist no longer in a body 
politic, but there is not a single city, where they are 
allowed to live according to their own laws, or to 
create magistrates of their own ; neither are they 
held together by any public exercise of religion. 
Their priests are without employment, their sacrifi- 
ces are suppressed. Their feast cannot be solem- 
nized but in one only place, and to that they are not 
permitted to repair. 

'By what miracle then have they been preserved 
amid so many nations, without any of those means 
which keep other people united ? How comes it to 
pass, that, having been scattered, like so many im- 
perceptible grains of dust, among all nations, they 
have, notwithstanding, been able to subsist longer 
than any, and even to survive the extinction of them 
all, 

' Who can at this day pick out the ancient Romans 
from the numerous crowds of people, who have 
thrown themselves into Italy ? Who can point out 
one single family of old Gaul, from those of another 
original ? Who can make the like separation in 
Spain, between the ancient Spaniards, and the 
Goths, who conquered it ? The face of the world is 
changed, both in the East and West ; and all na- 
tions are mixed and blended in a hundred different 
manners. It is only upon conjectures, and those 
oftentimes very frivolous, that a single family can 
trace up its original beyond the public revolutions 
of the state. 

< But the Jews, by a tradition which no calamity, 



232 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



whether public or private, hath been able to inter- 
rupt, can go back as far as the ancient stock of 
Abraham. They may be mistaken in allotting them- 
selves to this or that tribe, because, since their dis- 
persion, they have not any public registers (which, 
by the way, is a proof that their law is abolished, 
since neither the priests nor Levites can ascertain, 
by any certain monuments, that they are of the fam- 
ily of Aaron, and of the tribe of Levi.) But every 
father hath taken care to tell his children, that he 
had an original different from that of the Gentiles ; 
and that he descended from the patriarchs who are 
celebrated in the Scriptures. 

4 The general contempt into which they have fallen 
should, one would think, have induced them to con- 
found themselves with those people, under whose 
dominion they lived, and to suppress every thing 
that tended to distinguish them. By separating 
themselves from those who were in power, they only 
drew upon themselves their hatred and derision. 
In many places they exposed themselves to death, 
by bearing the exterior mark of circumcision. Ev- 
ery human interest led them to efface the ignomini- 
ous stain of their original. 

4 They saw every day their Messiah still farther 
removed from them ; that the promises of their doc- 
tors about his speedy manifestation were false ; that 
the predictions of the prophets, whom they could 
now no longer understand, were covered with ob- 
scurity ; that all the supputations of time either ter- 
minated in Jesus Christ, or were without a period; 
that some among them lost all hope, and fell into 
incredulity, with regard to the Scriptures. 

4 And yet, notwithstanding all this, they still sub- 
sist, they multiply, they remain visibly separated 
from all other people ; and in spite of the general 
aversion, in spite of the efforts of all those nations 
who hate them, and who have them in their power, 
in spite of every human obstacle, they are preserved 
by a supernatural protection, which hath not in like 
manner preserved any other nation of the earth. 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



233 



4 One must surely have very little sense of what 
ought to give one astonishment and admiration, if 
this prodigy does not strike one ; and one must have 
a strange idea of the providence of God, to think he 
had no hand in all this. 

i But the Holy Spirit was not willing to leave us 
under any uncertainty upon this head ; and hath 
declared to us by his prophets, that the preservation 
of the Jews is his work. "Fear thou not, O Jacob, 
my servant, saiththe Lord, for I am with thee, for I 
will make a full end of all the nations whither I have 
driven thee ; but I will not make a full end of thee 
but correct thee in measure, yet will I not leave 
thee wholly unpunished" (Jer. 30: 10, 11). 

'This promise was made to the old patriarchs, to 
whom God hath reserved children, heirs of their 
faith, and to the remnant of Israel, who in the end 
of the ages shall believe in Jesus Christ. 

'It is for their sakes that the unworthy posterity 
of the unbelieving is suffered; and it is to maintain 
the communication between the first fathers and 
their latest successors, that the nation is preserved 
notwithstanding their iniquity, and in the midst of 
punishments, that threatened to overwhelm them. 

'But let it be observed, that this promise was 
made to the nation of the Jews only ; that all others 
shall be either exterminated, or so confounded with 
each other, as to be no longer distinguished ; and 
that it is the efficacy of the word of God, which pre- 
serves the Jews amidst every thing, that in all ap- 
pearance would otherwise have sunk them entirely, 
and swallowed them up. 

'"Thussaith the Lord, If my covenant be not 
with day and night, and if I have not appointed the 
ordinances of heaven and earth; then will I cast 
away the seed of Jacob and David my servant; — ^ 
for I will cause their captivity to return, and have 
mercy on them" (Jer. 33 : 25, 26). This I say is the 
promise, and the end of the promise. The Jews 
shall one day be recalled through mercy ; and for 
the sake of those, who shall one day be recalled, the 



234 HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



patience of God suffers all the rest, and his power 
preserves them. 

'"Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for 
a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and 
of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the 
sea, when the waves thereof roar; the Lord of hosts 
is his name. If those ordinances depart from before 
me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall 
cease from being a nation before me forever. Thus 
saith the Lord, If heaven above can be measured, 
and the foundations of the earth searched out be- 
neath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel, for 
all that they have done, saith the Lord" (Jer. 31 : 
35, 36, 37). 

4 That is to say, heaven and earth shall pass away 
sooner than the Jews shall cease to be a distinct 
people. The same power, which hath given laws 
to nature, watches over their preservation. And 
the unheard-of crime, which they have committed 
in crucifying the Saviour promised to their fathers, 
and which hath filled up the measure of their former 
iniquity, will not move God to retract his promise, 
and to reject entirely, and without resource, the 
posterity of Jacob. 

4 With what light were the prophets illuminated 
to presume to speak in so great and lofty a strain of 
a thing so little probable as the Juration of a people, 
weak, dispersed, universally hated, and guilty of the 
greatest of all crimes ? 

4 Who would question the other prophecies, after 
seeing the accomplishment of this ? What more 
astonishing proof can any one desire of the truth of 
the Christian religion, than these two events joined 
together, the dispersion of the Jews into all nations, 
and their preservation for sixteen hundred years? 
One of these things taken separately and by itself 
was incredible ; and they became still more so by 
being united ; but both these prodigies were neces- 
sary'to prove that Jesus Christ was the Messiah. 

4 It was necessary that those who had rejected him 
should be banished into all regions, should, into all 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



235 



parts, carry with them the Scriptures, and should 
everywhere be covered with ignominy, 

' But that the promises made their fathers might be 
accomplished, it was necessary that their banished 
family should be recalled, and that, their blindness 
being dissipated, they should adore him, whom 

iJohn 8 : 56) Abraham had desired to see, and whom 
le had adored with a holy transport of joy and grat- 
itude. 

6 The Jews, punished and dispersed, bear witness 
to Jesus Christ. The Jews, recalled and converted, 
will render him a testimony still more awful and 
striking. The Jews, preserved by a continual mir- 
acle, that they may preserve to Jesus Christ the 
stock and succession of those who shall one day be- 
lieve in him, bear witness to him continually. 

'Had they been only punished, they would have 
proved his justice only: had they only been pre- 
served, they could have proved nothing but his pow- 
er. Had they not been reserved to worship him one 
day, they could not have proved his mercy and fidel- 
ity, nor have made him any reparation for their out- 
rageous crimes. 

4 Their dispersion proves that he is come, but they 
have rejected him ; their preservation demonstrates 
that he hath not rejected them forever, and that they 
shall one day believe in him ; and they declare, by 
both, that he is the Messiah, and the promised Sa- 
viour. That their miseries proceed from their not 
having known him, and that the only hope they have 
left is, that they shall one day come to the knowl- 
edge of him. 

4 We ought not to demand why God supports them 
so long without enlightening them; and why he 
leaves so great an interval between the faithful fa- 
thers, and the children that will hereafter become 
so too. To pretend to examine the impenetrable 
judgments of God, and the abysses of his wisdom, is 
to pretend to " measure the height of heaven, and to 
search out the foundations of the earth." God hath 
set bounds to the incredulity of the Jews, and to the 



236 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



ingratitude of the Gentiles (Rom. 11 : 32, 33). His 
mercy and his justice succeed each other; and no 
one knows at what time he will execute what he 
hath promised to the latest posterity of Israel, al- 
though his promises are infallible. 

4 (Is. 43: 1 — 8) "Thus saith the Lord that created 
thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel : 
fear not, for I have redeemed thee ; I have called 
thee by thy name, thou art mine. When thou pass- 
est through the waters, I will be with thee ; and 
through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee. 
When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not 
be burnt, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. 
Fear not, for I am with thee : I will bring thy seed 
from the East, and gather thee from the West. I 
will say to the North, Give up ; and to the South, 
Keep not back : bring my sons from far, and my 
daughters from the ends of the earth : even every 
one that is called by my name. For I have created 
him for my glory, I have formed him, yea I have 
made him. Bring forth the blind people that have 
eyes, and the deaf that have ears." 

'This prophecy, truly admirable in all its parts, is 
addressed to Jacob, the head of the tribes of Israel, 
and the heir of the promises of the Messiah and sal^ 
vation. 

' His posterity is dispersed into all the quarters of 
the world. This is the state of the Jews since the 
coming of Jesus Christ. 

'Their dispersion is the punishment of their spir- 
itual deafness and blindness. And with how great 
a blindness, with how great a deafness may one not 
deservedly reproach the Jews, for not having known 
Jesus Christ, and not having heard him, though he 
proved his divine mission by an infinity of miracles ! 

'Their condition seems desperate; the waters 
are ready to overwhelm them ; the flames surround 
them on all sides ; but the protection of God follows 
them throughout, and delivers them. 

'This protection is vouchsafed to the whole body 
of the nation, in favour of those, who shall one day 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



237 



call upon that name, which the rest have dishonour- 
ed with their blasphemies. 

4 God out of mere mercy will give a docile and 
faithful heart to those, who shall renounce their for- 
mer incredulity. They will be the creatures of his 
grace, to which alone they will stand indebted for 
their repentance and return. 

'They will not then begin to see a new object; 
but an object which their blindness had concealed 
from them. They will not then hear a teacher, who 
began but a few days before to make his appearance, 
but one whom their voluntary and obstinate deafness 
had kept them from hearing before. 

'The change will be in their persons, and not in 
his religion ; that will remain what it is, but they 
will then begin to see it. Jesus Christ will take 
away the veil that is upon their eyes ; but he will 
be the same. He will cure their deafness ; but he 
will speak the same things. 

4 It is evident, then, that the Jews are preserved 
for him ; and that the whole body of the nation sub- 
sists only by the efficacy of that promise, which is 
to lead the remains of Israel to Jesus Christ. " Bring 
forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf 
that have ears." ' 

Can any one, after reading these several prophe- 
cies above-quoted, question the veracity of the sa« 
cred writers ; who, by publishing them in this man- 
ner, put their Master's credit and their own upon 
contingences very remote, and seemingly improba- 
ble ? And doth not the exact accomplishment of 
these, and several other predictions, which might 
have been produced, sufficiently establish the au- 
thority of the Scriptures, and ascertain the truth of 
&!} the facts related in thern, ? 



238 



HISTORY 



AND 



EVIDENCES 



SECTION XXX. 

Argument from the Existence and Continuance of 
the Christian Religion. 

I come now to consider the second argument, to 
induce us to believe that Christ rose from the dead, 
viz : The existence of the Christian religion. 

From the existence of the Christian religion may 
be drawn the same kind of evidence of the resur- 
rection of Jesus Christ, and the wonders attending 
it, as is exhibited to us of the deluge by the many 
petrifactions of shells and bones of fishes, and other 
animals of distant regions, &c, found often in the 
bottoms of the deepest mines, and the bowels of the 
highest mountains ; for, as it is impossible to account 
for those various petrifactions being lodged in so 
many parts of the earth, some many leagues distant 
from the sea, others very much above the level of it, 
without admitting such a subversion and confusion 
of this globe, as could not have been occasioned by 
a less violent cause than the breaking up of the 
fountains of the great deep, and the waters flowing 
above the tops of the highest hills ; so will it, I ap- 
prehend, be extremely difficult to account for the 
propagation and present existence of Christianity in 
so many regions of the world, without supposing 
that Christ rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, 
and enabled his disciples, by the miraculous gifts of 
his Holy Spirit, to surmount such obstacles as no 
mere human abilities could possibly overcome. In 
the former case, a cause superior to the ordinary 
operations of nature must be assigned for the pro- 
duction of effects plainly above, and contrary to those 
operations. And for a solution of the latter, recourse 
in like manner must be had to an agent, of power 
and wisdom transcending and controlling the natural 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



239 



faculties and wisdom of man ; and this cause, this 
agent, can be no other than the great lawgiver of 
nature, the all -wise and all-mighty Creator of heaven 
and earth. He alone could break up the fountains 
of the great deep, open the windows of heaven, and 
cover the whole earth with water; that is, bring on 
that universal deluge, which alone furnishes us with 
a solution of many phenomena, otherwise unaccount- 
able ; and he alone could break the jaws of death, 
and the prison of the grave, open the kingdom of 
heaven, and shower down upon mortals such mighty 
gifts and powers, as are the only adequate causes 
that can be assigned of the astonishing and preter- 
natural birth and increase of Christianity. This will 
not appear exaggerated, if we consider the difficul- 
ties the Gospel had to struggle with at its first ap- 
pearance, and the inabilities, the human inabilities I 
mean, of its first preachers, to oppose and overcome 
those obstacles. 

The difficulties they had to encounter were no 
less than the superstition, the prejudices, and the 
vices of the whole world ; difficulties of so much the 
harder conquest, as being derived, though by cor- 
ruption, from good principles ; namely, the religion, 
the nature, and the reason of mankind. How pow- 
erful an opposition all these formed against the 
Gospel, will best appear from a short view of the 
state of the world under the first ages of Christianity. 

The Jews, though possessed of a body of laws 
framed, as they acknowledged, by God himself, had, 
however, by listening to the comments and traditions 
of their scholastic and casuistical scribes and rabbins, 
so far departed from the spirit and intention of their 
lawgiver, as to place almost the whole of their reli- 
gion in the observance of ritual purities and cere- 
monies, to the neglect of the ' greater and weightier 
matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and "faith* 
(Matt. 23 : 23) ; which, as our Saviour told them, 
they ought to have regarded, and not to have disre- 
garded the others. That is, the Jews were fallen 
from true religion into a superstition, which differed 



240 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



from that of the Gentiles principally, in that the 
Gentiles worshipped a number of deities, the Jews 
acknowledged and worshipped one alone; but still 
they worshipped him superstitiously, with exterior 
services only, ablutions, sacrifices, observation of 
days, and other ceremonial duties ; not perceiving, 
or not remembering, the great and wise end of those 
ceremonial institutions ; which, by not allowing any 
forms of worship, but those prescribed by the law, 
and not admitting to that worship any, but those, 
who by circumcision would become perfect Israel- 
ites, not only tended to keep them from being min- 
gled with the Gentiles, and learning from them their 
idolatrous polytheism; by which means that funda- 
mental article of all true religion, the belief of one 
God, though lost in all other nations, was for many 
centuries preserved among the Jews ; but by the 
fasts and festivals, the purifications, offerings, and 
propitiatory sacrifices appointed in the ritual, put 
them perpetually in mind of the duties of prayer and 
thanksgiving to God ; of the importance of moral 
purity, the obligation of repentance, and the neces- 
sity of an expiation for sin. But as holiness of life 
was of more difficult practice than the observation 
of ceremonies, numerous and burthensome as they 
seem to have been, they soon became willing to 
commute ; and reposing their chief hopes of obtain- 
ing the favour and protection of God in their com- 
pliance with the ceremonial law, they turned their 
attention principally to that; and attached them- 
selves to it so strongly, that though they did not 
scruple to commit a thousand immoralities, they 
would sooner die than eat any unclean meats, or 
suffer their temple to be profaned. 

From this attachment to what they esteemed the 
law of Moses, they presumed upon the special fa- 
vour and protection of God, and looked upon them- 
selves as sole heirs of the promises made to A braham 
and David, and repeated and confirmed by all their 
prophets. But the same blindness that withheld 
them from seeing the spiritual intent and meaning of 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



241 



the ceremonial institutions, kept them likewise from 
understanding the spiritual sense of those prophe- 
cies. The blessing therefore promised, through the 
seed of Abraham, to all the nations of the earth, and 
the kingdom stipulated to the posterity of David, 
they preposterously interpreted to belong to them- 
selves alone ; and expounding the deliverance of 
Israel intimated by the prophets, and the victories 
and dominion of the son of David, in a carnal sense, 
they expected, at the time of Christ's coming, a 
Messiah, who should not only deliver them from 
their subjection to the Romans, but even conquer 
and subdue them, and all the other powers of the 
earth, to the empire of the Jews, the sole favourites 
of Heaven, and destined lords of the universe, under 
their invincible, glorious king. These expectations, 
so flattering to the whole nation, had so infected the 
minds of all orders and degrees, that even the disci- 
ples of Jesus, who were (some of them at least) of 
the lowest of the people, were a long while tainted 
with them, notwithstanding the spiritual instructions 
and plain declarations of their Master to the contrary. 
And though, soon after his ascension, they seem to 
have given up all thoughts of a temporal kingdom, 
yet could they not for some time, nor without an 
express miracle, be convinced that the Gentiles had 
any title to the mercies of God, or any share in the 
kingdom of the Messiah. Such was the superstition, 
and such the prejudices of the whole Jewish nation. 

To these national prejudices may be added others 
arising from the peculiar tenets of the different sects, 
that divided among them almost the whole people 
of the Jews. The most powerful of these were the 
Pharisees and Sadducees : of whose chief doctrines 
some notice is taken by the evangelists, as well as 
of their rancorous opposition to the Gospel of Christ. 
Thf» reader, who is desirous of seeing a more par- 
ticular account of the opinions of these, and the oth- 
er sects, may consult the* Universal History. It 



* Vol. iv., p. 169, et seq. 



242 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



may be sufficient to observe here, that they had all 
of them many followers, had great authority with 
the people, and had, especially the Pharisees, a large 
share in the government of the Jewish state. And 
though there was a constant hatred and rivalry be- 
tween them, and consequently so great a zeal in 
each for the advancement of their particular opinions, 
that they 4 would compass heaven and earth to gain 
one proselyte,' yet they all agreed with the same 
ardour to oppose the progress of Christianity. 

The idolatrous superstitions of the heathen world, 
and the zealous attachment of every nation and city 
to the worship of their respective tutelary deities, 
are too well known to be enlarged upon in this place. 
But I must observe, that besides the prejudices of 
the ignorant and bigotted multitude, there sprung 
up from these superstitions other obstacles to Chris- 
tianity no less formidable, though of a different kind. 
For many religious rites and ceremonies having, 
either by prescription, or the policy of legislators, 
been mixed and interwoven with the administration 
of civil affairs, the worship of the gods was become 
not only an essential part of the constitution, but 
the great engine of government in most states and 
kingdoms. Thus, among the Greeks and other 
nations, omens and oracles ; among the Romans au- 
spices, auguries, and sacrifices, either of thanksgiv- 
ing or propitiation, were often very successfully 
employed upon great and important occasions. On 
which account all the Roman emperors, who had 
appropriated to themselves the authority of the whole 
empire, formerly divided among several officers, af- 
ter the examples of Julius Csesar and Augustus, 
either actually took upon them the office, or at least 
the title of Pontifex Maximus, chief priest ; that is, 
according to the definition of Festus, 4 Judex atque 
arbiter rerum humanarum divinarumque the judge 
and arbitrator of human and divine affairs. And 
hence those wise, as well as humane emperors, 
Trajan, and the two Antonines, migfht possibly think 
themselves under a double obligation, as chief mag- 



OF THE RESURRECTION, 



243 



istrates and chief priests, of persecuting the Chris- 
tians, whom they apparently considered as innovators 
"with regard to the constitution as well as religion of 
the empire. This, though no sufficient excuse for 
such barbarous and inhuman proceedings, may serve 
however to lessen the astonishment we are apt to 
fall into, upon hearing that so virtuous a religion as 
that of the Christians was persecuted by so virtuous 
a prince as Antoninus the philosopher ; though it 
must at the same time be acknowledged, that there 
was in him a great mixture of superstition, however 
incompatible that is thought to be with philosophy. 
This may also serve to show us the distressful situ- 
ation of Christianity, against whose progress not 
only the superstitious zeal of the multitude, the laws 
and policy of almost every state and kingdom, but 
the seeming duty of even good and just magistrates 
were fatally combined. 

If to politic and pious princes, religion and the 
laws of the state might serve for a reason or pretence 
for opposing Christianity, to wicked emperors there 
was yet another motive, distinct from any consider- 
ation either of duty or policy, or even of their vices ; 
and that was, their own divinity. After all the pow- 
er and dignity of the Reman people, and their sev- 
eral magistrates, was devolved upon the single per- 
son of the emperor, the senators, by a transition 
natural enough to slaves, from counsellors becoming 
flatterers, had not or^.y established by law the abso- 
lute authority of their tyrants ; but so far consecrated 
their persons, even in their life-time, as to erect 
altars to their names, to place their statues among 
those of the gods, and to offer to them sacrifices and 
incense. Though these impious honours were con- 
ferred upon all alike, without any distinction of good 
or bad ; yet the latter, not being able from theirown 
merit to acquire to themselves any respect or ven- 
eration, had nothing to stand upon but the power 
and prerogatives of their office ; of which there- 
fore they became so jealous, as to make it dan- 
gerous for any one to neglect paying them those 



244 HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



outward honours, however extravagant and profane, 
which either the laws or their own mad pride re- 
quired. And hence adoring the image of the em- 
perors, swearing by their names, &c, became a 
mark and test of fidelity, with which all who sought 
their favour, or feared their power, most religiously 
complied ; all those especially who held any magis- 
tracy under them, or governed the provinces. And 
these, by their offices, were yet farther obliged to 
take care, that within the limits of their jurisdiction, 
that most essential part of the duty of subjects to 
bad princes, exterior respect and veneration, was 
most punctually paid. Now, as the doctrines of 
Christ were entirely opposite to all kinds of idolatry, 
Christians were by this test, with which they could 
by no means comply, rendered liable to the guilt of 
that kind of treason, which tyrants and their minis- 
ters never pardon, how apt soever they may be to 
overlook crimes against religion or the state. And 
that this test was, among others, made use of against 
the professors of Christianity, even in the best reigns, 
is evident from a passage in the famous epistle of 
Pliny to Trajan, in which he relates his manner of 
proceeding with those who offered to clear them- 
selves of the charge or suspicion of being Christians, 
in the following words:* 'Propositus est libellus 
sine autore, multorum nomina continens, qui negant 
se esse Christianos, aut fuisse: Cum prseeunte me 
Deos appellarent, et imagini tuse (qunm propter hoc 
jusseram cum simulacris numinum afferri) thure ac 
vino supplicarent ; prseterea maledicerent Christo ; 
quorum nihil cogi posse dicuntur, qui sunt revera 
Christiani ; ergo dimittendos putavi. Alii ab indice 
nominati, esse se Christianos dixerunt, et mox neg- 
averunt ; fuisse quidem, sed desiisse ; quidam ante 
triennium, quidam ante plures annos : non nemo 
etiam ante viginti- quoque. Omnes et imaginem 
tuam, deorumque simulacra venerati sunt ; ii et 
Christo maledixerunt. A paper was set forth, with- 



* Epist. xcvii., 1. 10. 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



245 



out a name, containing a list of many people, who 
denied that they either were, or ever had been 
Christians. Now these persons having, after my 
example, invocated the gods, and with wine and in- 
cense paid their devotions to your image (which I 
had caused to be brought forth for that purpose, 
with the images of the gods,) and having moreover 
blasphemed Christ (any one of which things it is said 
no real Christian can be compelled to do.) I thought 
proper to dismiss them. Others, who had been in- 
formed against, confessed that they were once Chris- 
tians, but denied their being so now, saying they 
had quitted that religion, some three years, others 
more, and some few even twenty years ago. All 
these worshipped both your image and those of the 
gods, and did also blaspheme Christ.' 

To these powerful patrons of superstition, and en- 
emies of the Gospel, may be added others, whose 
authority, though inferior and subservient to the 
former, at least within the limits of the Roman em- 
pire, was however of very great and extensive in- 
fluence : I mean the priests, diviners, augers, and 
managers of oracles, with all the subordinate atten- 
dants upon the temples and worship of almost an 
infinite number of deities ; and many trades, if not 
entirely depending upon that worship, yet very much 
encouraged and enriched by it, such as statuaries, 
shrine-makers, breeders of victims, dealers in frank- 
incense, &c. ; all of whom were by interest, to say 
nothing of religion, strongly devoted to idolatry. 

It may not be improper also, under the article of 
religion, to mention the Circensian, and other spec- 
tacles exhibited among the Romans, the four great 
games of Greece, the Olympian, Pythian, Isthmian, 
and Nemenn ; with many others of the same kind, 
celebrated with great magnificence in every country, 
and almost in every city of Greece, both in Europe 
and Asia ; all of which were so many religious fes- 
tivals, which by the allurements of pomp and pleas- 
ure, not to mention the glory and advantages ac- 



246 



HrsToay and evidences 



quired by the conquerors in those games, attached 
many to the cause of superstition. 

But superstition, universal and powerful as it was, 
by its union with the interests and pleasures of a 
considerable part of mankind, was not the only/nor 
the greatest obstacle that Christianity had to con- 
tend with. Vice leagued against it a still greater 
number. The ambitious and luxurious, the de- 
bauched and lewd, the miser and extortioner, the 
unjust and oppressive, the proud and the revengeful, 
the fraudulent and rapacious, were all foes to a reli- 
gion, that taught humility and moderation, temper- 
ance and purity even of thought, liberality and 
clemency, justice, benevolence, and meekness, the 
forgiving of injuries, and 'the doing that only to 
others, which we would nave them to do to us»' 
Virtues agreeable indeed to reason, and discovera- 
ble in part by the clear light of nature ; but the dif- 
ficulty lay in bringing those to hear reason, who had 
abandoned themselves to superstition. And how 
was the almost extinguished ray of nature to be 
perceived, among the many false and glaring lights 
of religion, opinion, and philosophy, which recom- 
mended and sanctified many enormous vices ? The 
gods, like dissolute and despotic princes, who have 
often been very properly compared to them, were 
themselves the great patrons and examples of tyran- 
ny, lewdness, and revenge, and almost all kinds of 
vice. And opinion had magnified Alexander, and 
deified Julius Csssar for an ambition, which ought to 
have rendered them the objects of the detestation 
and curses of all mankind. 

Neither was philosophy so great a friend to virtue, 
or enemy to vice, as she pretended to be. Some 
philosophers, on the contrary, denied the being, at 
least the providence of God, and future rewards and 
punishments, and, as a just consequence of that 
opinion, placed the felicity of mankind in the enjoy- 
ment of this world, that, is, in sensual pleasures. 
Others, affecting to doubt and question every thing, 
took away the distinction of virtue and vice, and left 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



247 



their disciples to follow either, as their inclination 
directed. These were, at least indirectly, preachers 
of vice. And among those who undertook to lead 
their disciples to the temple of virtue, there were so 
many different, and even inconsistent opinions, some 
of them so paradoxical and absurd, others so subtil- 
ized and mysterious, and all of them so erroneous in 
their first principles, and so defective in many great 
points of religion and morality, that it is no wonder 
that philosophy, however venerable in her original, 
and noble in her pretensions, degenerated into spec- 
ulation, sophistry, and a science of disputation ; and, 
from a guide of life, became a pedantic president of 
the schools, from whence arose another kind of ad- 
versaries to the Gospel : a set of men, who, from 
seeing farther than the vulgar, came to fancy they 
could see every thing, and to think every thing sub- 
ject to the discussion of reason ; and, carrying their 
inquiries into the nature of God, the production of 
the universe, and the essence of the human soul, 
either framed upon each of these, or adopted some 
quaint or mysterious system, by which they pretend- 
ed to account for all the operations of nature, and 
measure all the actions of God and man. And as 
every sect had a system peculiar to itself, so did 
each endeavour to advance their own upon the ruins 
of all the rest ; and this engaged them in a perpet- 
ual war with one another, in which, for want of real 
strength, and solid arguments, they were reduced 
to defend themselves, and attack their adversaries, 
with all those arts which are commonly made use of 
to cover or supply the deficiency of sense and rea- 
son ; sophistry, declamation, and ridicule, obstinacy, 
pride and rancour. Men of this turn, accustomed to 
reason upon topics, in which reason is bewildered, 
so proud of their sufficiency of reason as to think 
they could account for every thing ; so fond of their 
own systems as to dread conviction more than error; 
and so habituated to dispute pertinaciously, to assert 
boldly, and to decide magisterially upon every ques- 
tion, that they were almost incapable of any instrue - 



248 HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



tion, could not but be averse to the receiving for their 
master a crucified Jew, and for teachers, a parcel of 
low obscure persons of the same nation, who pro- 
fessed to glory in the cross of Christ, to know noth- 
ing but him crucified, and to neglect and despise 
the so much admired wisdom of this world ; and 
who moreover taught points never thought of by the 
philosophers, such as the redemption of mankind, 
and the resurrection of the dead ; and who, though 
far from forbidding the due exercise of reason, yet 
confined it within its proper bounds, and exhorted 
their disciples to submit with all humility, and to 
rely with all confidence upon the wisdom of God, 
instead of pretending to arraign his proceedings, 
4 whose judgments are unsearchable, and whose 
ways are past finding out' 

From this view of the Jewish and Gentile world, 
it is evident, that every thing that most strongly in- 
fluences and tyrannizes over the mind of man, reli- 
gion, custom, law, policy, pride, interest, vice, and 
even philosophy, was united against the Gospel. 
Enemies in their own nature very formidable and 
difficult to be subdued, had they even suffered them- 
selves to be attacked upon equal ground, and come 
to a fair engagement. But, not relying upon their 
own strength only (for prejudice and falsehood are 
always diffident and fearful,) they intrenched them- 
selves behind that power, which they were in pos- 
session of, and rendered themselves inaccessible, as 
they imagined, to Christianity, by planting round 
them, not only all kinds of civil discouragements, 
but even torments, chains, and death. Terrors 
which no one could despise, who had any views of 
ambition or interest ; and who was not even con- 
tented to resign, what he might otherwise have en- 
joyed in peace, and without a crime, his reputation, 
his ease, his fortune, and his life. These were the 
difficulties which Christianity had to struggle with 
for many ages, and over which she at length so far 
prevailed as to change the whole face of things, 
oyerturn the temples and altars of the gods, silence 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



249 



the oracles, humble the impious pride of emperors, 
those earthly and more powerful deities, confound 
the presumptuous wisdom of philosophers, and in- 
troduce into the greatest part of the known world a 
new principle of religion and virtue. An event ap- 
parently too unwieldy and stupendous to have been 
brought about by mere human means, though all the 
accomplishments of learning, all the insinuating and 
persuasive powers of eloquence, joined to the pro- 
foundest knowledge of the nature and duty of man, 
and a long practice and experience in the ways of 
the world, had all met in the apostles. But the 
apostles, excepting Paul, were ignorant and illiter- 
ate, bred up for the most part in mean occupations, 
natives and inhabitants of a remote province of J ti- 
de a, and sprung from a nation hated and despised 
by the rest of mankind. So that, allowing it possible 
that a change so total and universal might have been 
effected by the natural powers and faculties of man, 
yet had the apostles none of those powers, St. Paul 
alone excepted, who was indeed eloquent, and well 
versed in all the learning of the Jews, that is, in the 
traditions and doctrines of the pharisees (of which 
sect he was] ; a learning, which, instead of assisting 
him in making converts to the Gospel, gave him the 
strongest prejudices against it, and rendered him a 
furious persecutor of the Christians. Yet of this 
eloquence, and of this learning, he made no use in 
preaching the Gospel: on the contrary (1 Cor. 2: 
1 — 4,) 4 When T came to you (says he to the Corin- 
thians) I came not with excellency of speech, or of 
wisdom, declaring to you the testimony of God ; for 
1 determined not to know any thing among you, 
save Jesus Christ, and him crucified: And I was 
with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much 
trembling; and my speech and my preaching was 
not with enticing words of man's wisdom? And in 
the preceding chapter, comparing the insufficiency 
of the preachers of the Gospel with the success of 
their preaching, he attributes the latter to the true 
cause, the wisdom and power of God, in these ex- 



250 



HISTORY AND ETI DEN G EST 



pressive words; (1 Cor. I il7, 'For Christ sent 
me to preach the Gospel*not with, wisdom of words-, 
lest the cross of Christ should be made of Done effect. 
For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish 
foolishness ; but unto 11% who are saved, it is the 
power, of God. For it is- written (Is. 29 : 14,) I will 
destroy the wisdom, of the wise, and will bring te* 
nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where 
is the wise ? Where is the scribe ? Where is the 
disputer of this world ? Hath not God made foolish 
the wisdom of this world ? For after that in the 
wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not Godv 
it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching te 
save them that believe, For the Jews require a 
sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. But we 
preach Christ crucified* unto the Jews a stumbling" 
block, and to the Greeks foolishness ; but unto them 
which are called, both- Jews- and Greeks*. Christ the 
power of God 9 . and the wisdom of God ; because the 
foolishness of God is wiser than men y and the weak- 
ness of God stronger than men. For ye see you? 
calling* 6* eiferen* thai not many wise men after the 
flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, aye called** 
But God hath chosen the fool ish things of the world 
to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the weak 
things of the world to confound the things that 
are mighty ; and base things of the world* and things 
which- are despised, hath God chosen ; yea, and 
things which are not, to b-ring to nought things that 
are ; that no flesh should glory in his presence.' 

This is a true representation of the condition of 
the first preachers of the Gospel, and their opposers* 
The latter were possessed of all the wisdom, au- 
thority *and power of the world ; the former were ig- 
norant, contemptible, and weak. Which of them, 
then, aeeording tethe natural course of human af- 
fairs ought to have prevailed ? the latter, without 
all doubt* And yet not the apostle only, but all his- 
tory, and our own experience assure us, that the 
ignorant, the contemptible, and the weak, gained 
the, victory from the wise* the mighty* and tie nobie^ 



T>? TftE REStTTlRfi CTION. 



551 



To what other cause, then, can we attribute a suc- 
cess so contrary to all the laws by which the events 
of this world are governed, than to the interposition 
of God, manifested in the resurrection and ascension 
•of Jesus Christ, and the miraculous powers conferred 
upon his apostles and disciples ? A cause adequate 
to all the effects, however great and astonishing-. 
For with these ample credentials from the King of 
Heaven, even u poor fisherman of Galilee might 
appear with dignity before the high priest and san~ 
hedrim of the Jews, assert boldly, that * God had 
made that same Jesus, whom they had crucified, 
both Lord and Christ and make good his assertion, 
by proving, that he was risen from the dead, strange 
and supernatural as it might seem, not only by his 
own testimony, and that of his brethren, the apostles 
and disciples of Jesus, by whom he was seen *for 
forty days after his passion,^ but by innumerable 
instances of a power superior in like manner to na- 
ture, derived upon them from Mm, and exercised by 
them in his name. From the Scriptures, also, might 
the same ignorant and illiterate Galileans show^ 
against the traditions of the elders, the learning or 
the scribes, and the prejudices of the whole Jewish 
nation, that the humble suffering Jesus was the 
mighty triumphant Messiah, spoken of by the proph- 
ets^; since, if with reference to the interpretation of 
those prophecies, any doubt could have arisen among 
the people to whose expositions they should submit, 
to those of the scribes and elders, or those of the 
apostles; the latter rnd to produce, in support of 
their authority, the attestation of that Holy Spirit, 
by whom those prophets were inspired, now speak- 
ing through their mouths in all the languages of the 
earth. And with regard to that other point, of sitll 
harder digestion to the Jews, namely, the calling 
the uncircumcised Gentiles to an equal participation 
of the kingdom of God, and consequently the abol- 
ishing circumcision, and the whole ceremonial law, 
the apostles were furnished with an argument, to 
which all the rabbins were not able to reply ; by the 



252 HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



Holy Ghost bestowing upon the Gentile converts to 
Christianity the same heavenly gifts as he had con- 
ferred, at the beginning, upon the believing Jews. 

Invested with such full powers from on high, might 
the same obscure Jews, notwithstanding the con- 
tempt and hatred which all other nations had for that 
people, undertake and accomplish the arduous and 
amazing task of preaching the Gospel to all the 
world. The belief of one God is the fundamental 
article of all true religion ; and the unity of the God- 
head is certainly discoverable, and even to be demon- 
strated by reason. But this article of belief was 
not to be found in the religion of any nation besides 
the- Jews ; and long- arguments and deductions of 
reason, by which it was to be demonstrated, were 
above the capacity of the greatest part of mankind. 
To prove this important truth, therefore, in a manner 
easy to be comprehended by the weakest* and yet 
not to be refuted by the strongest understanding* 
the apostles, and their followers, were for many 
ages endowed, besides all their other miraculous 
gifts, with a power over devils or demons (the only 
deities of the Pagans that had any real being,) per- 
mitted perhaps to show themselves at that time in 
extraordinary operations, for the sake of illustrating 
and proving this great truth. By this power they 
cast them out of m my, who were possessed by therm 
drove them from their temples, groves, and oracles* 
obliged them to confess their own inferiority, to ac- 
knowledge the dominion of Jesus Christ, and to de- 
clare his apostles* to be 'the servants of the most 
high God,' sent to show mankind 'the way of salva- 
tion/ This power they exercised in the name of 
Jesus Christ, in order to prove his mediation and 
intercession between God and man, the second arti- 
cle of the Christian creed. And as by this power, 
thus exercised in the name of Christ, the apostles, 
and their followers, were enabled to prove, even to 

* Acts 16 : 17. See, for many other instances, Whitby's general 
prefaee to the epistle*. 



OF THE RESURRECTION. 



253 



the senses of all mankind, that there is but one God, 
and one Mediator ; so from that, and other miracu- 
lous gifts of the Holy Spirit, healing all manner of 
diseases, speaking with various tongues, prophesy- 
ing, &c, did they derive to themselves authority to 
teach the great doctrines of Christianity, repentance, 
remission of sins, holiness of life, future rewards 
and punishments, and the resurrection of the dead : 
of which last, the resurrection of Christ was both an 
instance and a pledge ; as the effusion of the Holy 
Ghost upon believers was a clear evidence of the 
efficacy of repentance, and the remission of their 
sins. And of the necessity of a holy life, and the 
certainty of future rewards and punishments, nothing 
could afford a stronger and more convincing argu- 
ment, than the lives and deaths of these ambassadors 
of God, who were apparently guided into all truth 
by his inspiration ; and who, upon the assurance of 
a blessed immortality, not only practised all the vir- 
tues they preached, but cheerfully underwent all 
kinds of sufferings, and even death itself. 

After this manner were the first preachers of the 
Gospel, weak, ignorant, and contemptible as they 
were, furnished with strength sufficient to overthrow 
the 'strong holds of Satan,' the superstitions, preju- 
dices, and vices of mankind ; and, by the demon- 
stration of the power of God, an argument whose 
conclusiveness was visible to the dullest capacity, 
enabled to confound the subtleties of the most dis- 
putatious, and surpass the wisdom of the wisest phi- 
losophers, in establishing religion upon the belief of 
one God, grounding the obligation to virtue upon its 
true principle, the command of God ; and deriving 
the encouragement to holiness of life from the pro- 
mises of God, to reward those who should obey his 
will with eternal happiness, obtained by the sacrifice 
and mediation of Jesus Christ. Which last point, 
together with the doctrine of providence, the free 
agency of man, and assisting grace, how much so- 
ever beyond the ken of reason, yet could not but be 
admitted, by all reasonable men, for certain truths, 



254 



HISTORY AND EVIDENCES 



as standing upon the authority of persons visibly 
commissioned and inspired by God. For what con- 
clusion of reason, what maxim in philosophy, is more 
evident, than that 'men, speaking by the immediate 
inspiration of God, cannot lie ?' And is not the di- 
vine inspiration of the apostles to be inferred with 
as much certainty from the mighty wonders they 
performed, as the divine creation of the world from 
the stupendous beauty, order, and magnificence of 
the universe ? Every effect must have a cause ; and 
a supernatural effect must have a cause superior to 
nature ; and this cause can be no other than God. 
There may be, indeed, and we are authorized by 
the Scriptures to say there are many beings, both 
good and bad, endued with faculties and powers 
exceeding those of man : but these beings are, 
doubtless, limited as well as man in the exercise of 
those powers, and subjected to laws prescribed to 
them by their great Creator; which, in respect to 
them, may be likewise styled the laws of nature. 
From whence it follows, that they cannot break in 
upon, or disturb, the laws of any other system of 
creatures, though inferior to them, without the per- 
mission of the universal King ; who, nevertheless, 
may certainly make use of them as instruments to 
bring about his wise purposes, even beyond the 
bounds of their proper spheres. Thus, in establish- 
ing Christianity, he thought fit to employ the minis- 
tration not of angels only, but of demons, though in 
such a manner as to leave no doubt of their subjec- 
tion to his sovereignty. The angels were, upon 
many occasions, assisting to Christ and his apostles ; 
the demons trembled, and fled at their command ; 
and both of them, those by their subserviency, and 
these by the servility of their obedience, manifestly 
declared Christ and his apostles to be vested with 
an authority and power derived from their Lord and 
King. So that mankind, seeing the apostles pos- 
sessed of a power plainly paramount to the powers 
of all other known beings, whether angels or demons, 
could no more question their being commissioned 



OF THE RESURRECTION, 



255 



and inspired by God, than doubt whether the mag- 
nificent frame of the universe, with all the various 
natures belonging to it, was the workmanship of his 
almighty hands. 

Thus, by arguing from effects, notorious and visi- 
ble effects, to causes, the surest method of investi- 
gating and proving some kinds of truths, I have en- 
deavoured to demonstrate (if Imiyso speak without 
offence) the certainty of the resurrection of Jesus 
Christ, upon which the whole system of Christianity 
depends. For if Christ is not risen from the dead, 
then, as St. Paul says, ' vain is the hope of Christians, 
and the preaching of the apostles vain;' nay, we 
may go still farther, and pronounce vain the preach- 
ing of Christ himself. For had he not risen, and 
proved himself, by many infallible tokens, to have 
risen from the dead, the apostles and disciples could 
have had no inducement to believe in him, that is, to 
acknowledge him for the Messiah, the anointed of 
God; on the contrary, they must have taken him 
for an impostor, and, under that persuasion, could 
never have become preachers of the Gospel, without 
becoming" enthusiasts or impostors ; in either of 
which characters it is impossible they should have 
succeeded, to the degree which we are assured 
they did, considering their natural insufficiency, the 
strong opposition of all the world to the doctrines of 
Christianity, and their own high pretensions to mi- 
raculous powers, about which they could neither 
have been deceived themselves, nor have deceived 
others. Supposing therefore that Christ did not rise 
from the dead, it is certain, according to all human 
probability, there could never have been any such 
thing at all as Christianity, or it must have been 
stifled soon after its birth. But we know, on the 
contrary, that Christianity hath already existed above 
seventeen hundred years. This is a fact about which 
there is no dispute ; but Christians and infidels dis- 
agree in accounting for this fact. Christians affirm 
their religion to be of divine original, and to have 
grown up and prevailed under the miraculous assist- 



256 RESURRECTION OP CHRIST. 

ance and protection of God ; and this they not only 
affirm, and offer to prove by the same kind of evi- 
dence, by which all remote facts are proved, but 
think it may very fairly be inferred from the won- 
derful circumstances of its growth and increase, and 
its present existence. Infidels, on the other hand, 
assert Christianity to be an imposture, invented and 
carried on by men. In the maintenance of which 
assertion, their great argument against the credibil- 
ity of the resurrection, and the other miraculous 
proofs of the divine original of the Gospel, founded 
in their being miraculous, that is, out of the ordinary 
course of nature, will be of no service to them, since 
they will still find a miracle in their way, namely, 
the amazing birth, growth, and increase of Chris- 
tianity. Which facts, though they should not be 
able to account for them, they cannot however deny. 
In order, therefore, to destroy the evidence drawn 
from them by Christians, they must prove them not 
to have been miraculous, by showing how they could 
have been effected in the natural course of human 
affairs, by such weak instruments as Christ and his 
apostles (taking them to be, what they are pleased 
to call them, enthusiasts or impostors,) and by such 
means as they were possessed of and employed. 
But this I imagine to be as much above the capacity 
of the greatest philosophers to show, as it is to prove 
the possibility of executing the proud boast of Ar- 
chimedes (even granting his postulatum) of moving 
and wielding the globe of this earth, by machines of 
human invention, and composed of such materials 
only as nature furnishes for the ordinary use of man. 



END. 



THIS BOOK MUST BE 
RETURNED 



=per process, 
•n Oxide 



tnologies 

RESERVATION 

irive 
PA 16066 



\ 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




0 014 229 882 A • 



